


Let Me (Fall in Love with You)

by JellyB_214



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Arranged Marriage, Cutesy, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Shy Baekhyun, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, shy hubbies hehe, slight age gap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:48:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28892403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JellyB_214/pseuds/JellyB_214
Summary: Following his mother's advice, Baekhyun agrees to marry the son of her best friend from highschool despite not knowing who Chanyeol is.Turns out, Chanyeol is very open to the idea of marrying his own mother's choice and is more than willing to accept Baekhyun in his life.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 64
Kudos: 322





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted as a tweetfic on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jellyB_214/status/1331869317432889345?s=20
> 
> This is going to be a long ride and I am very slow at updating but I hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it 🥺🤲🏼
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated ❤

_Breathe in._

_Breathe out._

The act was repeated a few times until he regained his normal breathing pace. Despite this, Baekhyun’s hands were cold as they gripped over the bouquet of fresh flowers to the middle of his chest. 

His eyes twitched every now and then, not used to having them encased with the colour contact lenses the stylist have recommended for him to wear. Now he regretted agreeing to the recommendation, as the distinct sensation of something around his eyes was adding to the discomfort on top of the nervousness he was tending to at the moment. 

“Baekhyun, it’s time.”

Snapping out of his stupor, Baekhyun swallowed the lump forming in his throat while simultaneously wet his glossed lips with his tongue, grimacing at the weird taste of the substance on his taste buds. 

He trudged towards where the wedding organiser was waiting for him at the corner, his ears ringing with the speed of his blood rushing in his veins.

They walked the small distance to the double door that leads to a ballroom where he will be wedded off to a man that he only knew by name; Park Chanyeol. 

Now that he thought about it, maybe it wasn’t a brilliant idea declining his mother's offer to arrange a meeting between the two of them before the wedding happens. At that time, Baekhyun thought, if he didn’t meet his soon-to-be husband, he wouldn’t be tempted to back out of what he had agreed with his mother. 

Park Chanyeol, as his mother had told him, is four years older than himself and just recently settled down here in his birth country after four years of working in Japan. He learned that Chanyeol now worked for a telecommunication company in the country as one of the top managers in a branch at Gangdong-gu. 

Baekhyun couldn’t say much about his future husband with what little his mother had told him but he does feel a little relieved knowing that he’s marrying someone with a stable job. Baekhyun himself was unemployed and has been so for a year now.

Baekhyun doesn’t consider himself a spoiled child. But to some extent, he did admit that his parents spoiled him a lot compared to his older siblings. His parents never complained when he gave up scavenging for jobs earlier this year and sought to help his father with his gardening activity instead. The old man had been pleased even, never once told his youngest to go look for a job outside of their hometown. 

But Baekhyun realised too late that his comfortable bubble had raised other concerns regarding himself. When his mother first brought up the marriage talk, Baekhyun had dodged it right away with an excuse of not meeting the one yet that he wanted to get married with. The topic was brought again and again until his mother brought up Park Chanyeol’s name and told him the guy would suit him as a husband. 

Baekhyun couldn’t remember how his resolve crumbled in the end, but the occasional mention that the man would be an ideal husband for him had been ingrained in his head that he finally relented and willed himself to agree with his mother’s suggestion. 

A few months passed and here he was, breathing in and breathing out as he waited for the door to open so he could finally meet the charming man his mother had flaunted about which as of now is his fiance.

As the door finally opened, Baekhyun could feel his intestines dropped to his gut’s floor and his heart palpitated ten folds faster than it should. The sound of tinkling music was quickly drowned in him as the ringing in his ears grew louder.

The wedding organiser gestured to him to step through the doorway, the tall figure of his future husband stood, in a nicely fitted suit the same tone Baekhyun is wearing, waiting for Baekhyun to approach him. 

And as Baekhyun took small steps forward, Park Chanyeol’s head turned slightly and his body followed the action. Stopping right beside his fiance, Baekhyun’s eyes flicked upwards to look at Chanyeol from behind his lashes, finally meeting him eye-to-eye. 

Baekhyun could feel his breath hitching in his throat, his chest hurting with how wild his heart was pumping within when his eyes swept over dark brown almond eyes, tall nose and plump lips that made the handsome face of his fiance. 

Park Chanyeol offered him a smile as he sucked his elbow out slightly for Baek hyun to take. 

With a trembling hand, Baekhyun hooked his fingers around his arm and sucked on a sharp breath. 

They are now standing side by side, shoulders brushing on one another as the music stopped and they waited for the tingles of the new song to come. 

And when it did, Baekhyun held on his fiance’s arm tightened as his feet started to move on their own accord, following the pace of the person walking beside him towards the make-shift stage where the officiant was waiting for their arrival. 

Baekhyun’s body was functioning on auto-pilot, his soul leaving him to feel numb. 

His senses only came back when they were about to separate to stand at either sides of the officiant, his hand sliding down Chanyeol’s arm before the man caught it in his own to give a gentle squeeze. 

Baekhyun’s eyes quickly averted to him, finding the man offering him a reassuring smile. Baekhyun tried to return the smile but it couldn’t have looked calm like his fiance did. Baekhyun’s inside was turning upside down and he wished nothing but for the ceremony to end soon. 

The tell-tale of a wedding ceremony starts then, the officiant’s voice barely audible in Baekhyun’s buzzing ears. At that moment, he took his chance to glimpse over at Chanyeol who stood straight like a pole with only his eyes casted downwards, looking as if he was listening intently to what the officiant was saying. 

Baekhyun took in the sight of his handsome face, feeling something stirred in his guts. The man has his shiny brown hair styled in a way that his glorious forehead was showing. Chanyeol’s ear shells stood out on each side of his face, his double eyelids fluttered every now and then. Baekhyun was taking mental notes about each and every feature of his future husband’s face when the eyes that initially casted down flipped up, catching the pair of his own had been shamelessly feasting over the handsome face. 

Baekhyun immediately averted his eyes away, his cheeks hot from being caught staring although he tried to reason that it was his very own fiance he was openly staring at. 

Baekhyun calmed himself until it was time for them to exchange vows. 

The first syllable that came out of Chanyeol’s mouth brought shivers running down Baekhyun’s spine. The richness in his baritone vibrated through his heart and sent jolts of electric sparks through his veins. Even though he was nervous to recite his own vow, Baekhyun made sure to stay focused as Chanyeol read through his own. 

Baekhyun’s mellow voice recited his own vow like he had memorised it. Truthfully, he did. For the sake of not stuttering and embarrassing himself, he had done just that and he breathed out a sigh of relief when he was finished with his part and they were almost nearing the end of the ceremony. 

However, it was what left to be done that Baekhyun thought would be the most nerve-wrecking. 

Baekhyun’s oldest niece padded up the stage with small, careful steps as he held the tray with their ring sitting on top. At the sight of her little figure approaching the, Baekhyun could feel himself relaxing a little. 

She padded towards the officiant who bent down a little to reach out for the box encasing their rings from the tray the little girl was holding. He silently thanked her and sent her away with a light pat on her head. 

Baekhyun flashed a blinding smile for her when she looked up and their eyes met. Sending his niece away with his gaze, Baekhyun brought his mind back to focus on the task in hand. 

They were told to hold hands as the officiant recited the symbol of the rings to their marriage. Chanyeol's callous hand was bigger than Baekhyun’s own, caging it in a warm sensation in contrast to Baekhyun’s cold and trembling one. 

As he finished his speech, the officiant offered Chanyeol the box where the man took a ring that was meant for Baekhyun. A glance that the man casted to him propted Baekhyun to lift his left hand and hovered it in the air. 

Baekhyun’s fingers may have trembled badly that Chanyeol had to hold it with his free hand while the one holding the ring could slip the platinum band through Baekhyun’s ring finger with ease. 

Now that it was his turn to give Chanyeol his ring, Baekhyun found the man’s finger to be thick as compared to his slender ones, a contrast that made Baekhyun’s guts flipped over. 

Chanyeol’s hand was steady as Baekhyun slipped the ring through his finger, the latter heaved yet another sigh of relief when he had overcome another mountain through the wedding ceremony. 

However, the last and the most anticipated act of the ceremony has yet to come and the mere thought of it coming closer as the time ticked away caused a lump to grow in Baekhyun’s throat. 

“I now pronounce you both as husband. You may kiss now.”

Baekhyun stood like a statue after the last word left the officiant. His grip over the flower bouquet was the tightest that moment as he watched Chanyeol, taking one step forward to close the distance between them, with his heart pounding with sheer anticipation of what was to come. 

Chanyeol held his face with his thumb pressing against Baekhyun’s chin and his forefinger hooked underneath it, gently tipping his head back. Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered as they swept over Chanyeol’s face, calming a little at the sight of his soothing smile, before holding the gaze that the man had on him. 

The moment Chanyeol made a move to dip his head down, Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered shut and his lips pressed into a thin line as he waited for the impact of their first kiss. 

The touch, however, didn’t land on the place Baekhyun had expected it to be. Instead of his lips, Chanyeol’s lips landed on his forehead, right beneath his hairline where the touch punctured a warm sensation throughout Baekhyun’s body. 

Baekhyun released what could be the last deep sigh from his chest for the day, his tensed body melting into the warm touch that lingered for a while before Chanyeol pulled away, leaving the spot he had kissed hot on Baekhyun’s skin. 

His hand was then held, by now, the familiar hand belonged to his husband. 

Now that his mind was clearing, Baekhyun could feel his face flushing warmth through his skin, even more so when his hand was lifted up and Baekhyun’s eyes followed where it was brought to meet Chanyeol’s lips that Baekhyun’s heart shook immensely in his chest. 

Chanyeol kissed along his knuckles, his eyes penetrating through Baekhyun’s that showed the transparency of his heart for his husband to see. 

Baekhyun doesn’t believe in love at first sight. It sounded like a scam to him. But if this was love that he was feeling, maybe Chanyeol had debunked his initial belief. 

* * *

The reception went well. Baekhyun glued himself to Chanyeol's side as they walked around the ballroom to greet the guests. Chanyeol was such a good talker, he did most of the talking between them. 

After the awkward photo session where he and Chanyeol was told to pose in every possible intimate way, they’ve loosened up a little and had allowed little touches here and there afterwards. 

Occasionally, Chanyeol would grab at his hand to make sure that he was keeping up close beside him. Sometimes he would touch his back, held on his waist or shoulder, and while Baekhyun was still getting used to it, they were not unwanted. He felt those touches to be comforting while his nerves kept on spiraling each and every time they met someone Baekhyun was not familiar with. 

When the last guest had left and the newly wedded couple saw Chanyeol's family away, they were finally left alone as Chanyeol's sister's car skidded to the road and left them behind.

Baekhyun couldn't remember how many sighs he had heaved throughout the day and he did it again when he thought, finally, everything was over. 

"It was a long day, isn't it?" The baritone of his husband's voice shook his heart gently, prompting Baekhyun to turn his head to look at him. 

Chanyeol had momentarily looked at Baekhyun before he shifted his gaze away, knowing his husband would turn all shy if he was to stare a little long. 

"We've been standing all day," Baekhyun said in a little whine, "And I need to take these contact lenses off, my eyes are stinging." 

At this, Chanyeol shifted in his position as he dipped his head down to look properly into Baekhyun's eyes. 

"Oh, I didn't know those aren’t real," he commented mindlessly. 

Baekhyun took a step back when he realised the proximity between them. 

"No, they're not. My eyes couldn't possibly look like that. The stylist said it would accentuate my whole look. He probably thought I looked ugly in my glasses." 

Baekhyun didn't realise how he was half complaining now to his husband. But when he did, he could feel his cheeks turning warm, his eyes blinking rapidly as he cleared his throat for a better thing to do before pretending to look away. 

To his relief, Chanyeol didn't further comment on what he said and instead, took his hand to clasp in his own hand and tugged him to walk along with him. 

"Let's go home." 

* * *

By home, he meant Baekhyun's parents' house. The wedding was held in his hometown in Bucheon and Chanyeol's family from Seoul had stayed over at a hotel in town so tonight, before Baekhyun completely moves out of his parents' house, he's going to spend the last night as a married man. 

The ride home was filled with silence between the newly wedded couple. The music streaming out of the stereo served as a background noise as they both drowned in their own worlds. Baekhyun found the playlist being played was filled with romantic songs and it made him think if Chanyeol is the sappy type. 

After a moment, Baekhyun turned his head to the side, casting his eyes towards his husband.

“Are you always this quiet?” Chanyeol suddenly asked, startling Baekhyun and immediately making him turn his head away from glimpsing his husband. 

Chanyeol watched how the smaller man was twiddling with his fingers on his clasped hands from the corner of his eyes, the sight brought a warm smile on his face. 

“I’m not going to eat you, Baekhyun, you don’t have to be scared of me.”

His husband’s teasing tone prompted Baekhyun to bite on his bottom lip to suppress the little whine that threatened to slip from his lips from the sound of his own name rolling out of Chanyeol’s tongue as though he was familiar with it.

“I’m not scared,” he muttered under his breath without looking at the man who has his eyes straight on the road. “It’s just weird... now that I suddenly have a h-husband.”

Baekhyun blinked his eyes rapidly, his cheeks warm from mere uttering the last word. 

The other man chuckled deeply, eyes crinkling. The sound made Baekhyun’s hair at the back of his neck stand.

“I guess we both have to get used to that now, don’t you think? Should we go through all the casualties of introducing ourselves now? I’m Park Chanyeol and as of three hours ago, I am your husband by law.”

Chanyeol’s humor brought about the small giggles from Baekhyun who found the whole situation to be ridiculous and silly. He couldn’t believe that only now, after a few hours being married, that they were finally introducing themselves to one another.

“This is awkward,” he bit back, his nose scrunching. 

“It’s like some kind of a cliche love story, isn’t it?” Chanyeol said with a low chuckle. 

Baekhyun hummed his response, not planning to say anything back to that. 

To his silence, Chanyeol decided to speak again. “Just so you know, I’m nervous too.”

Tilting his head to the side, Baekhyun casted his eyes to his husband again, discerning his side profile. 

“It’ll all be new for both of us. I won’t ask for much but I do want to ask you to give us a chance. We’ll take it slow, come to terms at our own pace, I don’t mind that.”

As Baekhyun listened to each and every word from Chanyeol, his eyes stared ahead to the passing vehicles and buildings outside, mind wandering. 

There was something stirring in the pit of his stomach but his gut instinct told him it wasn’t anything bad. In fact, Baekhyun was relieved to hear Chanyeol’s thoughts about their situation. 

“I don’t mind that too,” Baekhyun said in return after a few moments of silence. He could hear Chanyeol relieving a sigh and he flicked his eyes to the sides, finding the man pulling a small smile on his face. Baekhyun did the same too as they both fell into a comfortable silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments are very appreciated!! 😚❤


	2. Chapter 2

Upon arriving at Baekhyun’s parents’ house, they both went straight to Baekhyun’s bedroom. On his way, Baekhyun saw his nephew and nieces playing together in the living room. They only gave him and Chanyeol a glance before going back to playing with themselves. 

Leading his husband to his room, Baekhyun heart thumped a little quickly at the prospect of sharing his bedroom with someone he barely knew but was now his legal husband. 

He opened the door to his room wide and held it for Chanyeol to step in. His humble nest of a room had only a few furniture inside. Owing to the fact that he was going to get married, his parents bought a brand new set of furniture for his room which includes a new queen-sized bed to replace his once single bed, a wardrobe and also a vanity. Baekhyun's old study desk has to be moved out to fit in the new bigger bed size.

There were already two rolls of fresh towels on the bed, probably placed by his mother before they arrived. 

Chanyeol stepped in and placed his duffel bag at the edge of the bed. 

Once Baekhyun pulled the door closed, silence fell between them and his nerves was working him up from the mere idea of being alone with his husband in the confines of his own room. 

Chanyeol had started to shrug off his suit and loosened his tie when Baek hyun realised he had been staring openly at Chanyeol’s broad back without blinking for a whole minute. 

Clearing his throat, Baekhyun placed his own tote bag and hung it on the hook behind the door.

“You can use the towel on the bed. The bathroom is outside. Let me see if it’s occupied.” Before Chanyeol could even come up with a reply, Baekhyun had hurriedly made his way out of the room. He heaved the breath he didn’t realise he was holding, hands gripping the door knob tight. 

Padding across the hallway, he reached for the door knob to the bathroom and twisted it open. The door unhinged and cracked open, indicating that no one was inside. He glimpsed inside to see if there was anything inappropriate laying around before leaving the door ajar to tell Chanyeol that he could use the bathroom now. 

Just as he was reaching for the knob to his room, the wood flew open, revealing Chanyeol, broad shoulders stretching the dress shirt he was wearing, hair now tousled as if he had ruffled it carelessly just moments ago, as he walked out with a towel laid limp on one of his shoulders. But his movements halted when he realised there was someone blocking his way. 

“O-oh, sorry. T-the bathroom is empty for use now,” Baekhyun said, stumbling on his own words as he frantically tried not to look at any part of Chanyeol’s body. 

A soft chuckle rumbled through Chanyeol’s chest as he opened the door more ajar and let himself out. 

“Thanks, Baekhyun,” he said as he walked past the smaller man, shoulders brushing slightly.

Baekhyun stood in a trance for a moment before he shook himself in his stupor and quickly brought himself into his room and closed the door shut behind him. Laying his hand over his heart, he felt how it was palpitating faster under his ribs. He really had no idea how he was going to survive living like from that point onwards. 

* * *

Chanyeol stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed in a fresh pair of clothes. He walked back inside to find Baekhyun readying himself to cleanse himself as well. He had the towel draped over his shoulders down his torso where Chanyeol guessed was bare of any other clothing. 

The way he fumbled to make sure it didn’t fall off his shoulders only confirmed his guess. Respecting his privacy, Chanyeol averted his eyes away as he made his way to where he had left his bag and searched around for his phone. He heard the soft thuds of baek hyun’s footsteps on the floorboard as he quickly but subtly made his way out.

He let an amused smile garnishing his face at the thought of his shy husband. He definitely knew his effect on Baekhyun, how the younger would turn pink whenever Chanyeol set his eyes on him or whenever they're in close proximity. Chanyeol tried not to make him uncomfortable but as he saw to it, it was inevitable because Baek hyun blushes at just everything pertaining to him. And Chanyeol does admit that he likes how those soft looking cheeks flushed in faint crimson looked pleasingly pretty to him. 

Baekhyun was cute and adorable, he could conclude so far and he could tell, with time, they can work things out just fine together. 

After a few minutes of just mindlessly scrolling through his messaging app, Chanyeol decided to go out of the room. It seemed like the only right thing to do at the moment, mingling with his in-laws. 

As he cracked the door open, he saw a shadow of someone passing by and immediately zeroed on the towel-draped figure. 

"Baekhyun," he instinctively called out, recognising him right away from his platinum hair. 

The moment the younger man stopped and turned around to look at him, Chanyeol immediately sensed something was off because Baekhyun's left eye was red. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked in concern. 

Blinking his eyes, Baekhyun pouted at his husband as he slowly padded back to where Chanyeol was standing. 

"I can't get the contact lenses off. My eyes keep blinking. I was about to go to mom," he said in his mellow voice.

At the explanation, Chanyeol felt relief washing over him. At least it wasn't something serious. 

"Come, let me help you." 

Taking Baekhyun by the arm, he pulled him back towards the bathroom. They can't both fit inside so Chanyeol stopped Baekhyun to stand outside while he went in to wash his hands. 

He came back with his hands cleaned and dried, stepping right in front of Baekhyun. They were inches apart and Chanyeol's breathing was fanning over Baekhyun's face as he tilted it back with his thumb and forefinger on his chin. 

Baekhyun was immediately reminded of their 'kiss' during the wedding and the thought had his heart picking up its pace once again.

"Roll your eyes up. Try not to blink. Tell me if it hurt." 

Doing as he was told, Baekhyun rolled his eyes up and waited for Chanyeol to take out the lenses that had started to irritate his eyes. 

He felt the pad of Chanyeol's finger touch the skin under his eyes and pulled it down gently. Then, he saw something getting nearer his eyes and on reflex, he blinked them rapidly. 

Chanyeol's hand now moved to cup the side of his face, the callous skin of his thumb rubbing soothingly over his cheek. 

"Open your eyes, Baekhyun. It won't be painful, I promise."

At Chanyeol's tender tone, Baekhyun relaxed himself and focused to open his eyelid as wide as he could. The second attempt to take the lens out, Baekhyun was able not to blink when he saw Chanyeol's finger coming close towards his eyes but he did flail around, his hand holding onto Chanyeol's arm when he felt the contact on his eyes. 

A soft whine left him as he gripped on Chanyeol's arm to stop him but the man didn't brush him away. Instead, he soothed him with his thumb caressing Baek hyun's face as hushed him to calm down.

“You shouldn’t have worn these if you weren’t comfortable wearing them,” Chanyeol chastised when he remembered why Baek hyun had worn those lenses in the first place. Baekhyun pouted at his words but didn’t say anything because deep down he knew he regretted it as well.

At the third attempt, they managed to take one lens out. Baekhyun's eyes watered from opening them for so long and it was soothed a little from Chanyeol blowing air over it. 

"Let's take out the other one," Chanyeol said after Baek hyun had blinked the tears away. 

The younger only nodded his head and did his best to stay still while Chanyeol picked the lens out. This time around he didn't flail or blink his eyes but he did hold on Chanyeol's arm to keep himself still. 

Chanyeol hummed in delight when he got the lens out of the other eye. He blew air over the eye and wiped the tears away from Baek hyun's face. 

A distinct throat clearing sound was heard, distracting the couple from their little moment. 

Baekhyun then realised his towel had slipped over a shoulder and was now hanging for dear life over the other one. He quickly covered his exposed body, flushing bright red. He whipped his head around to find his older brother, Baekbeom, who had stepped out of his own room and had witnessed their closeness a few moments ago. 

They awkwardly stood in front of the bathroom door as Baekbeom excused himself towards the staircase that was adjacent to the bathroom. 

"Thank you," the younger said as he squeezed himself into the bathroom to escape the awkward situation. 

Chanyeol on the other hand was left to stand in the middle of the hallway, not really knowing what to do. 

* * *

After spending a good twenty minutes in the shower, the awkwardness he felt earlier was washed away with all the sweat and dirt he had collected through the day. Baekhyun came back to his room to find it empty. Figuring that Chanyeol was probably mingling with his family, Baekhyun let himself dove onto the mattress on his back, his body bouncing from the impact. 

His hair was still damp from shower but he let it be as his mind wandered yet again about the leap of change he had made in his life today. 

He was married. 

Baekhyun’s mind rolled around the words, thinking of how big the change would be. 

He did admit that everything had happened so suddenly to him. However, after meeting Chanyeol, it doesn’t feel as bad as it did initially. From the few hours he had met him, Chanyeol had only shown his gentle and caring side and truth be told, Baekhyun really liked that about him. 

His mind wandered back to when the man had helped him take out those damn lenses from his eyes and he couldn’t help feeling giddy about it, his heart palpitating at the images and he knew his face was red as tomato as he relived the moment again in his head. 

Just as he was about to drown himself into another fitful of silent giggles, the door to his room was banged from outside, effectively wiping the giddy smile away from his face. 

“Uncle Baek, come out and play!”

The high-pitched voice of his oldest niece, Dalmi, was muffled from outside the door. Shaking his head with a smile, Baekhyun brushed away his silly thoughts and told his niece that he’ll be out soon. After hearing the footsteps retreating away, Baekhyun proceeded to towel-dry his hair before leaving his room to join his other family members downstairs. 

* * *

As he descended down the staircase, Baekhyun immediately captured the loud squealing coming from the living room. He then found his nephew and nieces fussing around Chanyeol who seemed to not mind playing with them. They were each trying to catch the man’s attention and the sight brought about a smile on Baekhyun’s face as he side-stepped into the kitchen, not wanting to avert the little monsters’ attention to himself. 

The kitchen was occupied with his sister and sister-in-law who were unwrapping food packaging that they’ve probably ordered for dinner. It was a long day for all of them, it was just convenient to order food to overcome the fuss of preparing food on their own. 

“Hey, princeling. What are you doing here? You should go and accompany your husband.”

At his sister’s words, both ladies giggled as they watched Baekhyun’s lips doing the usual upturn whenever he was teased by his older sister. 

“Shut it. Where’s mom?” He asked to change the topic. But of course, his sister won’t let it slide so easily. 

“Eh, why are you looking for mom? Don’t you have a husband now to run and white to? Go to him now, shoo!”

With flaming ears, Baekhyun scrunched his nose and turned away from the two ladies, grabbing the pack of gummies he saw left abandoned on the kitchen counter with him. 

He padded back into the living room where his presence was immediately noticed as all heads turned to him. 

“I’ve got gummies,” he said, grinning down at the little monsters. Instantly, an uproar was heard as tiny feet made their ways to him and tiny hands making grabby motion up to him. 

“You little monsters,” he said under his breath as he plopped down on the carpeted floor, immediately gathering the small bodies that came to him. 

“Okay, okay. Settle down, kids. Uncle has plenty of this, no one will be left out.” 

At the promise, the commotion slowly died down as the three kids sat obediently with their wide eyes staring at the pack of gummies in their uncle’s hand. 

Baek hyun slowly distributed the gummies to the kids. Dalmi, the oldest cousin, waited patiently as she was last as Baekhyun always taught her to always prioritise the younger ones first. 

As he watched the kids slowly enjoying the sweet treat, Baekhyun’s eyes caught some movements from the corner of his eyes and soon he found Chanyeol sitting beside him. Instinctively, he fixed his glasses that had ridden down the bridge of his nose. 

“Want,” the youngest, Dalhae, put out his tiny hand in front of Baek hyun, asking for more. Baekhyun cooed at his attempt to talk despite only being two years old. 

“Alright, one more for Haehae. Mimi do you want more?” Baekhyun called out for Dalmi who was now distracted with the new cartoon that has started on the TV. Seeing that she was not going to give him any response, Baekhyun turned his attention to his older sister’s daughter, Minsun, who was still slowly chewing on her gummy. 

“Do you want some more, Sunnie? Uncle will give you only one more, okay?” 

He placed one red coloured gummy in her chubby hand, watching as she turned around to join Dalmi watching cartoons. 

When he looked back at Dalhae, the boy was now playing catch with a small soft ball with Chanyeol.

“Wah, Haehae got a new friend, huh? You’re gonna forget Uncle Baek now, huh?” He feigned hurt. 

He heard Chanyeol snorting at his words, prompting him to glance over at Chanyeol who had a lopsided grin over his face. 

To his dismay, Dalhae ignored him as he was busy trying to catch the ball Chanyeol rolled towards him. 

“You’re pretty close with them,” Chanyeol commented, trying to strike a conversation when Baekhyun was left to watch him play with the child. 

Baekhyun chuckled under his breath. “I’m their favourite uncle, of course they’re close with me.”

He had expected for Chanyeol to give him a snarky remark, but when the man only smiled at his words, it prompted him to say more. 

“I always babysit them. They’d usually spend their weekends here, so we got close because I was the only one wiling to play with them.”

To this, Chanyeol hummed lowly, seemingly pleased with the information. “No wonder I don’t see the difference between you and them.”

Taken aback, Baekhyun let out a reprimanding ‘hey’ at his husband’s accusation, pretending to give him a back-hand. Chanyeol’s laughter bursted out, his eyes pinched together as his face scrunched all together, causing Dalhae to giggle too.

At that moment, the rest of the family filed into the room as someone called for dinner. 

Sitting at one table with the rest of his family did spur chaos, especially to the newlyweds. They were teased around to no end, especially by Baekhyun’s brother and sister. They’d spite one another as if competing on whomever managed to come up with the worst of teasing. 

It came to a point where Baekhyun have to seek protection from his parents that the teasing finally died down and they were able to have a decent conversation together.

They didn’t hang out until late into the night as they would do usually. Everyone was jet-lagged from the event in the day and only wished to see their bed for a good rest. 

Baekhyun walked silently into his room after finishing his nightly routine. His heart was thundering in his chest as he closed the door to his room. 

He tried to block all the thoughts that kept visiting his mind as he timidly padded towards the bed where Chanyeol was already lying on his side of the bed, an rm propping his phone in front of his face. 

Before he got too near, he was suddenly conscious of the lights around the room. 

“Uhm, should I switch the lights off... now?” He asked, sounding unsure. 

At his question, Chanyeol shifted on the mattress and propped himself up against the headboard. “Yeah, sure,” he said, smiling gently. 

Baekhyun stepped to turn on the bedside lamp on the night stand before turning around to flick the main light off. The room fell dim right after, aside from the light coming from the bedside lamp. Baekhyun walked back to the bed and sat by the edge, taking his phone into his hands. 

As he scrolled through the many congratulatory messages for him, his mind wasn’t focusing on anything in particular. He was actually stalling time for reasons he didn’t even know. He just knew that he can’t just casually slip under the cover and sleep like he’d usually did, not when he was sharing the bed with another man. 

“Baekhyun?” 

His shoulders jolted at the sound of the deep voice piercing through the quietness of the atmosphere in the room. Humming a response, Baekhyun turned his body to face his husband. 

Chanyeol was looking at him as though he was trying to read his body language and Baekhyun didn’t know how to react to that. 

“Uhh, should I sleep somewhere else, on the floor maybe?” He asked, causing Baekhyun’s eyes to open up wide. 

“W-why would you sleep on the f-floor?” He asked incredulously as though it was the most ridiculous thing Chanyeol could ever ask of him. 

The man let out a low chuckle at his agitated reaction. “I just... if you’re not comfortable, I don’t mind—“

“It’s o-okay,” Baekhyun cut him before Chanyeol could say more. He gazed at the empty space between them before pulling a pillow and putting it in the middle. He then casted his eyes back at Chanyeol and carefully gauged his reaction. 

“Okay,” the man said after a moment passed by, “Okay.”

Chanyeol got back to lying on his back, not caring to slip under the cover. Baekhyun, on the other hand, slipped under the cover and laid straight on his back, blinking his eyes up to the ceiling of his room. 

“Night, Baekhyun,” he heard Chanyeol’s gravel voice said to him, to which he returned with a soft hum. 

Trying not to think about the other presence on the other side of the bed, Baekhyun focused on steadying his breathing and slowly shutting down his other sensory systems to let him fall into the long sleep that he so deserved for the day.

Tomorrow is another new journey for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments are very appreciated!! 😚❤


	3. Chapter 3

Morning seemed to come quickly as Baekhyun stirred awake from his deep slumber the next day. He was still getting used to the bigger sized bed he was sleeping in. He was used to sleeping in the middle of the bed because he loves hogging big spaces. 

At that very moment, it dawned on him that he was married just yesterday and he had shared the bed with someone else throughout the night. 

Blinking his eyes open, Baekhyun realised just then he wasn’t facing his side of the room, and instead, his eyes landed on the empty space where his husband was supposed to be.

He stayed motionless for a moment, just blinking the sleep away as he stared at the empty space. Had he dreamed of marrying a tall and handsome engineer the previous night? Had it all been a lie? Did he actually dream of a man corking out contact lenses out of his eyes?

The crackling sound of wood against wood made him snap his head around, eyes wandering to where the sound came from. 

His spectacles-less eyes caught the silhouette of someone sitting by the vanity desk. He quickly reached for his glasses from the bedside table and wore them so he could look properly. 

And as if he was dreaming again, he saw Chanyeol sitting uncaringly on the vanity chair while he casted a lazy gaze over at Baekhyun. 

“Morning?”

The deep gravel voice greeting him like drizzles of caramel over stacks of warm waffles. It was warm and rich, bringing shivers to travel down Baekhyun’s spine. 

“Were you looking for me?”

Baekhyun wished for the bed to eat him whole. This was not happening on the very first morning with his husband. 

“Why are you up so early and watching me like a creep?” He croaked out instead, realising now that he had gravitated to the very center of the bed. He wondered if this had happened since long or it only did after Chanyeol had woken up from bed. 

He rolled back to his side, trying not to meet his husband in the eyes. 

“You were hogging the whole bed. If I had stayed, you’d end up in my arms instead.”

The mental image of Chanyeol words had the younger curling himself into a ball under the covers, decidedly trying to make either his or Chanyeol’s existence to extinguish from the surface of earth. 

The sound of Chanyeol’s deep chuckle reverberated across the room until it died down, followed by the sound of the door clicking shut. The room fell silent. 

Baekhyun breathed hot air into his lungs before He peeked his head out to look around. When he was sure that the room was empty except for his own presence, he tossed the covers from his body and kicked it away, grunting in a silent tantrum. 

He’s definitely not going to survive this marriage. 

* * *

When Baekhyun stepped downstairs, freshened up from sleep, he noticed his nieces were still bundled up on the futon spread in the middle of the living room. Baek hyun came and stood behind the sofa to look over at their sleeping figures, a small smile tugged on his lips.

The corners of his eyes caught movements from afar, prompting him to turn his head to the side. From where he was standing, he could see the veranda and the little yard outside, where his father had worked with his gardening activity. 

He caught the sight of Chanyeol’s tall figure padding around with baby Dalhae in his arms. He was trying to chase the butterfly that was fluttering its wings in the air, laughing along Dalhae who seemed to enjoy the rush of morning air hitting his face with every fast lurch of Chanyeol’s body in an attempt to make the boy catch the fluttering wings. 

He then saw his father at the corner, huddled with his brother-in-law, Hansung, probably looking over the new addition he had grown in his small garden. 

As he watched Chanyeol bring Dalhae to join the other two men, he retreated himself from the living room to enter the kitchen. 

He first saw his mother who was sitting on one of the stools by the kitchen counter, chattering with her two daughters.

“Morning, mom,” he said as he ventured further into the kitchen, stopping beside his mother to put a gentle hand on her back before seating himself on the empty stool next to her. 

“Ahh, little prince, had a good night’s sleep?” His sister, Baekmin, struck her first conversation with him with her usual teasing. Baekhyun knew when to ignore her, when to bite back and when to ask for help from his mother so this time around, he chose to ignore her. 

“What’re we having for breakfast?” He asked, craning his head to look at what the two ladies were busy cooking on the stove. 

“Some beef and vegetable omelette, tofu soup, and kimchi,” he mother told him as she sipped on her herbal tea, to which Baekhyun hummed approvingly. They would usually go with just vegetable omelette in the morning. It’s probably the addition of a new family member that they’re whisking the beef into the morning dish. Baekhyun definitely not going to complain about this.

“What are you making, noona?” He asked the question to Haesoo, his sister-in-law who was hovering over a stainless steel bowl as she rolled something between her gloved hands. 

“Rice balls. I’m packing some food to bring back home later,” she told him, offering the rice ball that she had rolled to Baekhyun who took it with a childish grin on his face. 

“What time?” He asked, referring to when she and her family would go back home, as he bit on the ping-pong-sized rice ball into his mouth. 

“Hmm, after breakfast or a little later. But we won’t stay for lunch, though. Dalmi hasn’t finished her school project that’s due tomorrow,” she told him, laughing sheepishly. 

Baekhyun grinned at her words but didn’t say anything further. Instead, he asked his sister the same question, to which Baekmin said she’ll probably go back the same time as Haesoo. 

Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel the slight pull on the pit of his stomach, thinking that he’s going to leave home soon too. He hasn’t asked Chanyeol when they’ll depart for today, feeling a bit off at the thought of moving out from his parents’ house. 

He distracted himself with helping set the table. Then, he was told to fetch the kids and call the others so they can start having breakfast together. 

He padded into the living room to find his brother sitting on the sofa, while the TV was now switched on to a rerun of SpongeBob episode which the two girls had woken up to. 

“Breakfast’s ready,” he told his brother before turning on his heels to call for the others outside. 

Sliding the door open was enough to attract everyone’s attention towards him. Baekhyun’s eyes instinctively searched for Chanyeol who now has his pinky finger clutched by Dalhae’s stubby fingers as he followed him to walk around the yard. 

“Breakfast’s ready. Come on in,” he told them before disappearing back into the living room where he helped his brother collecting his nieces to bring them to the dining area. 

As everyone settled down in their respective seats, breakfast started with wafts of the savoury smell of food hanging around them. Chatters were slower in the morning as everyone focused on eating their bowl of rice with the side dishes. 

Baekhyun was the busiest as he catered all three children by himself. It was a normal Sunday morning routine for him whenever the kids dropped by to visit their grandparents on the weekends. The kids didn’t take time to finish their breakfast, as long as there were hands that kept feeding them their food. Dalhae was probably the trickiest one because he’d open his mouth to spurt random words and sound rather than taking the food offered to him. 

After each one of them was fed full — turns out, Dalhae only wanted his baby formula for breakfast — Baekhyun was left to eat his breakfast in peace. At this moment, the dining table was almost vacant aside from his father and Chanyeol, his mother standing by the sink as she washed the dishes. Everyone else was probably preparing to go back to their respective home as another week is about to start. 

The thought brought a sullen feeling webbing in Baekhyun’s heart as he looked rather sadly at the food that was left for him. It felt like he was about to eat his last breakfast in his old folks’ house and Baekhyun’s heart cried at the overdramatic thoughts he had running in his head. 

He came back to his senses at the sound of the chair sliding over the marble floor when Chanyeol stood from his spot. Baekhyun casted his eyes towards him, catching the man’s stare on him. 

“Coffee? Juice? Anything you wanna drink?” He asked, gesturing to the variation of drinks on the table. 

Slowly, Baekhyun shook his head to politely decline the offer as he picked up the chopstick to start eating. He doesn’t know why but at the moment, looking at Chanyeol was paining him because it was as though he was reminded of what little time he had left before he’s leaving his parents to move in with his husband. It left him feeling the ache of his heart and Baekhyun didn’t plan to torture himself this way so he resolved to not look at his husband. 

He munched slowly on his food, noting that Chanyeol left the table after he declined his kind gesture. Thinking about it now, he felt slightly guilty for his childish act and the feeling brought him to another slump of emotions. 

As he was picking on his food without actually eating them when a presence came by his side and he saw a mug was placed beside his rice bowl. Turning his head, he found Chanyeol, already descending on a chair beside him with an arm laying across the backrest of Baekhyun’s chair while the other one rested on the table. 

The man nudged the mug he had placed on the table towards Baekhyun, making the younger man look at him questioningly. 

“It’s barley with honey and a tiny bit of lemon. It tasted just like water. If you’re not in the mood to eat, you can just drink this. It’s good for your digestive system and the barley will make you feel full.”

As Chanyeol explained the content in the mug, Baekhyun had taken it in his own hands and peered inside. What he was looking at probably looked like something his parents would enjoy. Baekhyun can’t tell if he can drink it or not.

“Try it,” Chanyeol encouraged him, making the younger man blink his eyes rapidly. 

As much as he wanted to refuse, Baekhyun’s rational mind told him that Chanyeol had taken his time making this for him and that he had refused the man’s kind gesture before, he can’t probably keep rejecting him again and again. 

With a silent sigh, Baekhyun took a tentative sip of the warm drink, tasting the burst of tang from the lemon before the subtle sweet taste from the honey glided over his taste buds. It wasn’t unpleasant, and as Chanyeol said, the general taste was if he was drinking a mixture of lemon with honey in warm water. He didn’t hate it, but he can’t say he liked it either. 

“Not good?” Chanyeol took a guess when Baekhyun stayed responsive after a whole minute. 

Baekhyun let out a thoughtful hum before deciding on what to say. “Maybe I would like it better if it’s cold? It doesn’t taste bad but this is probably something mom and dad would enjoy very much.”

“What’s that?” Baekhyun’s old man piped up when he heard his name being called into their conversation. 

“Chanyeol made barley with honey and lemon. Wanna try?” He said to his father and passed the mug to him. 

Mr Byun took the mug offered to him and took a sip on the drink, humming in content. “I like it,” he commented, making Baekhyun grin in delight. 

“You can have it all dad, Chanyeol probably knew you like barley,” he said, trying to lure his father to finish the drink for him. 

When the older man responded to him with only a hearty guffaw, Baekhyun grinned to himself with pride. He turned back to his side, Baekhyun was taken aback to find Chanyeol staring intently at him, lips tugged into an amused smile. 

“Uhm... I prefer water on top of anything else,” he squeaked out, head ducking down to avoid his husband’s burning gaze on him. 

“Right. I’ll get you some water then,” the man said with his deep voice lowering an octave. Baekhyun couldn’t decide if he was pissed with him or what, but when Chanyeol came back with a glass of chilled water, he mustered up the sweetest smile he could make out of his yet-to-shower state and flashed it so his husband as he thanked him. 

Chanyeol’s chest rumbled with his gravel chuckle when he reached his hand to ruffle Baekhyun’s hair, earning a small whine from the younger. Baekhyun was then left to finish his breakfast but he was no longer sullen like he did earlier. 

* * *

Later, at around eleven, Baekhyun found himself standing by the door frame, overseeing Baekbeom and Hansung lodging their baggage of the weekend stay back into the bonnet of their cars. 

The kids were delighted at the thought of being in a car ride, all ready to strap themselves in. Chanyeol was already outside with his parents, chattering away with them. 

His eyes narrowed when he saw his brother come to Chanyeol side and took him away from where he was standing with their parents. A frown sat on his face but before he could dive more into thinking of what his brother was doing to his husband, another’s presence came at his side. 

“I see Beom is doing the big brother talk now,” Baekmin said at his side as she, too, looked at where Chanyeol was cornered by their big brother. 

“Should I do the same too? I’ll take my turn after Beom’s finished with his lecture,” she continued when Baekhyun kept mum. At this, however, Baekhyun reacted with a little whine escaping his lips. 

“Why are you two being so embarrassing,” he protested, frowning at his sister. 

Baekmin cooed at his little tantrum, her hand instinctively reaching up to pinch his cheek. 

“We’re not being embarrassing. It’s normal to become protective over our baby brother,” she said, her voice turned slightly serious as she spoke. 

Baekhyun huffed at her words, lips jutting out. “I’m not a baby anymore,” he said gruffly, His button nose scrunching.

At his claim, Baekmin couldn’t help but to coo again. “Little prince, you’ll forever be my big baby brother. Even if you’re married, little prince is always noona’s baby.”

With that, Baekhyun’s face was gobbled with kisses from his sister, causing his face to turn bright red, more out of embarrassment than out of annoyance. 

“Noona...” he whined out loud. The woman giggled at his misery as she pulled away from his face. 

“I probably can’t do this anymore once you realised there are better kisses than the ones I gave you,” she said, pouting her lips. “Don’t forget about noona when you’ve found your happiness with Chanyeol. Remember who brought you up to be the baby that you are today.”

Despite her words being full of tease, Baekhyun couldn’t help the painful tug on his heartstring when he listened to them. 

“Noona, don’t say that. How can I forget about you when you never stop pestering my life?” He said, voice sullen despite trying to come up with a strong counter for Baekmin teasings. 

Sensing the change in his voice, Baekmin tilted her head to the side and looked at the upturn of her brother’s lips with a small smile. Reaching a hand out, she tucked the stray strand of hair to the back of Baekhyun’s ear with her finger, the touch comforting the younger one a little. 

“Don’t worry too much, little prince. It’s not as scary as you think it is. Once you find the love for one another, everything’s gonna fall into its rightful place. Plus, Chanyeol looks like a very reliable person. I’m sure he’ll take good care of you.”

They both casted their gazes outside, where Chanyeol now was back talking to his parents along with Baekbeom and Hansung. 

“Noona,” Baekhyun called out in a small voice, “What if he doesn’t like me? What if one day he realised he didn’t want someone like me for a husband?” 

His face expression fell the same way his voice did when he asked those questions. Baekmin shifted her eyes back to her little brother, her face filled with understanding to Baekhyun’s whirling emotion. 

“Baekhyun-ah,” she called back to get her brother’s attention, “We can’t force someone to like us just like how we can’t force ourselves to like others. Same goes with loving someone. It comes in a natural way. You both need to work this out. I know it sounds nerve-wracking but from what little I have seen, I know Chanyeol had taken a liking on you, if just for a tiny bit. And you like him too, don’t you?” 

Gone the teasing in Baekmin’s voice as she narrowed her eyes on her brother who was like a sad puppy seeking comfort from her. Baekhyun’s cheeks flushed a tint of crimson at his sister’s blind assumption. 

“There’s nothing to dislike about him,” he supplied as he threw an accusing look his sister’s way. Baekmin gracefully laughed at his reaction, her hand now sliding up and down his arm in a soothing way. 

“I know it might seem too much for you but you both are a married couple now and it’s only right for you both to work the relationship together,” she told him in a soothing way as to not scare her little brother who seemed to be worrying about what the future held for him. 

“And if he ever,” she started again, voice suddenly hardening, “Ever, hurt you or say that he doesn’t want you anymore, just leave him and come back home. Noona will take care of everything after that.” She made a motion of sliding one of her forefingers on top of the other, referencing the motion of sharpening a knife that she always used to emphasise something she said was serious. 

At that, Baekhyun’s chest bubbled with giggles as a smile finally turned up on his face. 

“You’ll be fine, little prince. Call noona if something happens, okay?” She messed with his hair to which Baekhyun had let her willingly. 

They walked out of the house together to join the others. Baekhyun went for the three little monsters who looked like they couldn’t wait to leave. He hugged and kissed all three children and gave his usual good-uncle-advices to them. He helped strapped them into the carseats before going about to say goodbyes to his siblings and their partners. 

He got a handful of advice from Baekbeom who ended his lecture with a big, warm hug. 

“Take care, Baekhyunie. Hyung only wants the best for you so be happy, okay?”

Baekhyun could only manage a choked hum out of his throat when it started to constrict as he tried to make words out of it. 

Baekmin didn’t say anything since she had said a lot to him back then so she only came and pulled him into a hug, to which Baekhyun leaned in as a sniffle made it out of him. 

“Noona loves you, little prince. Take care, okay?” She said as she pulled away and patted his face lightly with the palms of her hand. Baekhyun managed to nod as he wiped the tears away. He didn’t even know why he was being overly emotional seeing his siblings away this time around. He felt lonely somehow. 

As the two families filed into their respective cars, Baekhyun felt an arm crossed his back and a hand hooked around his upper arm as a figure loomed over his own. The touch was comforting a tiny bit so Baek hyun let himself snuggle into his husband’s hold, feeling as though he needed to be held at this moment. 

They said their final goodbyes and waved them away as their cars started moving and disappearing out of sight. 

Baekhyun stood hugging himself as his eyes stared blankly into the horizon, his mind elsewhere. 

“Come on, let’s go inside,” the raspy sound of Chanyeol’s voice speaking softly to him had Baekhyun’s mind descending back to earth. 

With a small nod, Baekhyun let his husband steer him around and walk him back inside the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments are very appreciated!! 😚❤


	4. Chapter 4

When Baekhyun was asked by his mother if he had finished packing his stuff, he immediately excused himself to retreat into his room. Closing the door, he took out one of the luggage that he would bring along with him as he moved out of his parents’ house, one which he left to put in the remaining things to be brought along with him. 

He left a few home clothings in the cupboard, the ones that were worn out after each spin in the washing machine. He didn’t know what to leave because in all honesty, he wanted to bring every bit of himself that he put in this room all with him to the new life he’ll start living in with his husband. But everything can’t fit in his two medium-sized luggage. 

He left out those items that he thought he wouldn’t miss, like the alarm clock on the nightstand that had been a mere accessory since he finished highschool; the big baby blue teddy bear his sister gifted him during his graduation day; and some picture frames of himself with his families and close friends. He had taken one picture with him, just in case the one in his phone storage doesn’t make him feel like home. 

He was tucking in a lost pair of socks between his clothes when the door to his room was knocked before it was twisted open. Chanyeol sauntered in after closing the door behind him and proceeded to take a seat at the edge of the bed beside the opened luggage Baek hyun was packing. 

He inspected Baekhyun for a moment who didn’t bother to acknowledge his presence as he busied himself to collect his cosmetics from the vanity. 

“Need a hand?” Chanyeol offered when the younger came back to the bed to dump his cosmetics bag into the pile of things that was already inside the luggage compartment. 

Baekhyun shook his head lightly without saying anything. He padded back to the cupboard, opening it to make sure the clothings he planned to wear later was there. Baekhyun then turned his head to his husband who he found was already staring at him with a concerned expression. 

“What time are we leaving?” He asked, voice monotonous.

Finally getting to hear his voice, a small smile cracked on Chanyeol’s lips, his shoulders relaxing. 

“We can leave whenever you want,” he said with a careful, soft voice. He knew Baek hyun was going through something difficult at the moment. Barely a day spent in the Byun’s residence, Chanyeol could already tell that his small husband was spoiled and pampered with overflowing love by his family, leading to his assumption that Baekhyun is very deeply attached to them. And seeing the gloom in his overall stance throughout the day only confirmed his assumption and Chanyeol was left to feel slightly guilty at the thought of separating Baekhyun from the comfortable nest of his home. 

As much as he doesn’t want to see Baekhyun sad, he also wanted Baekhyun to give him the chance to make him happy, to fill in the voids in his heart. He only asked for Baekhyun to spare him some time to build up something worth seeing between them. 

“Okay,” Baekhyun said, startling Chanyeol back to reality. Chanyeol watched as his small husband closed the cupboard door and tentatively looked around. 

“I’ll just... I’m gonna help mom cook lunch,” he said, after a moment of fidgeting in his place. Baekhyun then crossed the room and headed out of he door as the room became more and more suffocating as each second ticked by. 

Chanyeol was left with his shoulders slumped, staring with yearning eyes to where his husband had disappeared from behind the door. He could only hope that he could win Baekhyun’s heart some day.

* * *

As the day slowly drifted off, Baekhyun found himself trying to stall time as much as he could. 

His mind was floating everywhere, he wasn't focused on everything he did. From the time he helped his mother cook until they were eating lunch together. 

He appreciated that Chanyeol was trying to make the atmosphere around the dining table to be a bit more cheery as Baekhyun found himself not in the mood to talk and only listened. 

He heard Chanyeol telling his parents that he was given the next two working days off in light of his wedding, adding that he's going to spend those two days with his husband. 

Mr and Mrs Byun seemed pleased with the information, telling Baekhyun that he should cherish those precious times with Chanyeol before he got busy with work again. Baekhyun merely hummed to their words, not truly interested in the conversation. 

After lunch, he stalled more time with helping his mother cleaning the kitchen while Chanyeol followed after his father to his mini garden. 

When his mother asked him at what time they would leave, he blurted out a 'somewhere around 5'. He had two hours left as he realised what he said. 

He sulkily went back to his room after that, doing nothing but spacing out. He replied the text messages that he hadn't been able to reply yesterday, burning an hour just flipping through applications in his phone.

Realising he still had an hour to waste away, Baek hyun checked on the stuff he planned to bring and making sure they were all packed in his luggage. He contemplated to take a shower first but seeing that he didn't have any other good things to do, he grabbed his towel and went into the bathroom. 

He was out 10 minutes later, feeling slightly refreshed as he went back into his room to change into the clothes he prepared for himself. As he slipped into the plain white shirt, the door was knocked before it clicked open. He hastily rode the shirt down to cover his body when he realised Chanyeol was entering their room.

"Oh, sorry," he said when he realised the state of his husband, still draped in a towel on his lower half with his hair still wet from the shower. He mentally noted to himself that Baekhyun was readying himself to leave as he saw him wearing a blue and white stripe button down over the white shirt he had on him. 

"I'm gonna take a quick shower too," he told him as he, too, grabbed his towel before leaving the room.

Baekhyun realised that some parts of the shirt Chanyeol was wearing was covered with soil, probably from helping his father with gardening just now. The thought had his heart softening a little. 

After putting on a pair of jeans, he towel-dried his hair and tried fixing it with little effort. His hair fell on his head like it usually did and Baekhyun merely left it be. Putting on some cologne, he then took his totebag, noticing that it was already well packed from yesterday aside from his phone. He tossed the cologne bottle inside before walking to the bed to take his phone. 

At that moment, the door clicked open once again and upon turning around, he found Chanyeol walking in, chest bare with droplets of water beading like constellation around the skin. 

Instantly, Baekhyun looked away, his own chest suddenly constricting. Chanyeol didn't seem to mind as he went to where he had dumped his duffle bag and proceeded to getting dressed. 

Feeling like he should give the man some privacy, Baek hyun rounded the bed to reach the other side of the room to grab his two luggage. He struggled with both as they were packed with clothes and his other belongings. 

Chanyeol seemed to notice his struggle as he strapped the belt around the loops of his jeans. 

"Just leave it outside, I'll take them down later," Chanyeol said before Baekhyun reached the door to their room. The younger stopped in a moment at his voice, before he whispered a small 'okay' without turning to his husband. 

He left the room so Chanyeol could have his own privacy as he brought them out of their room. He stopped by the stairs, contemplating if he should let Chanyeol take the two luggage alone before trying to weigh the lighter one between the two to take it down by himself and leave the heavier one for Chanyeol to take care of. 

* * *

As time finally comes for them to leave, Baekhyun felt his heart weighed like there were rocks miraculously placed in it. Chanyeol had already put their baggage into the bonnet of his car and they were just waiting to say their final goodbyes.

aekhyun tweaked the end of his totebag that rested over one shoulder, his eyes casted down to the ground as he listened to his mother nagging her husband about not keeping his gardening tools neatly like she had told him for the umphteenth time. 

He felt a hand rested over the small of his back, prompting him to lift his head up to find Chanyeol standing next to him. The man offered him a smile before speaking. 

"Ready when you are." 

At this, Baekhyun heaved a small sigh, knowing the time had finally come. They trudged towards the elders who immediately smiled up to them when they noticed the couple were approaching. 

"Leaving now?" Mrs Byun asked, eyes crinkling. Baekhyun hummed and nodded his head, arms stretching around his mother's petite body as he embraced her into a tight hug. 

Mrs Byun cooed at him as she rubbed his back soothingly in an up-and-down motion. 

"Be good, okay? Don't trouble Chanyeol too much. Be a good husband for him. Call me often, hmm?" 

Baekhyun let out a small whimper at his mother's words. When he pulled away, his eyes were already wet and he tried his best to get rid of the tears but it was futile as they kept spilling from his eyelids. 

"Aww, my baby, why are you crying? You're acting as if your father and I are selling you off to some thug leader. Don't cry, Baekhyunie. It's all going to be fine," even though she was teasing him, her voice cracked a little at the end and her eyes were glistening with tears too. 

She kept patting his back to soothe him from crying. Baekhyun moved to hug his old man when seeking comfort from his mother only proved to be more challenging as his heart felt heavier the more he looked at her. 

His father was more or less the same like his older brother. He gave him a few advices and reminded him to go look for a job in the city. That one made Baekhyun laugh because of all things, he still reminded him of that.

Baekhyun settled down in the car first, wanting to rid himself of the tears before seeing his parents for the last time. He looked through the car window, how his mother was holding onto Chanyeol's hand when she talked to him while sniffling the remaining tears away. 

Chanyeol then made it into the driver's seat and strapped himself in. He lowered the window on the two front seats as he readied himself to drive. 

They waved Baekhyun's parents away as the car slowly skidded on the road. When it turned into a corner, Baekhyun stuck his head out to wave a final goodbye to them until they could no longer be seen. 

Stucking his head back in, the younger of the two slumped himself against the carseat, a sigh leaving his lips. The windows were then rolled up and Baekhyun could finally listen to the song played through the stereo. Silence filled the void around the space between them with Baekhyun sorting out his feelings and Chanyeol focusing on driving as he let his husband be. 

The silence stretched only for the first quarter of the journey. As Chanyeol pulled up to fill in his tank, he beckoned Baekhyun to come with him to the minimart at the gas station.

"Go pick up some snacks, I'm gonna use the toilet in a jippy."

Walking between the rows of shelves, Baekhyun took his time to choose which snack he'd like to get. He picked up a pack of chips, a box of peppero and two packs of yogurt gummies. He moved to the fridges to take out a bottle of iced lemon tea drink. When he turned around on his heels, he saw Chanyeol approaching him, eyeing the food packages in Baekhyun's arms.  
  


And then Baekhyun realised just how much he had taken just for another hour of drive. But Chanyeol didn't seem to mind it as he took something from the fridge as well before gesturing for Baekhyun to follow him to the counter. 

The younger dropped the snacks on the counter, realising that Chanyeol had only taken a can of energy drink for himself. His lips jutted out as Chanyeol whipped out his card from his wallet and gave it to the cashier even before she could read out the total to be paid. Why was he making Chanyeol spend so much for him already? 

As the cashier passed the card back, along with the receipt of their purchase, Chanyeol took the plastic bag and gently pushing Baekhyun out of the door. 

They got back into the car and as the four-wheeled vehicle made its way back on the road, Baekhyun started on the first pack of his yogurt gummies. 

He offered some to Chanyeol who politely refused his kind gesture, eyes focusing on the road. Baekhyun thought Chanyeol might be the type that doesn't like so he didn't push his advance any further. 

Chanyeol took the lit up mood in Baekhyun to strike a light conversation between them. He started asking basic things pertaining to his husband before the conversation flowed smoothly as they jumped from one topic to another. 

He learned that Baekhyun actually holds a degree in early childhood education, something that Chanyeol wasn't expecting but not surprised of. No wonder he could handle his nieces and nephew well. 

"I like children. I took the course on impulse because everything else didn't seem to appeal to me as much. But turns out it wasn't so bad after all. I learned to understand more about children and it's really something fun especially with the kids around." 

But then, Baekhyun said, he realised it was hard to find jobs as most of the vacancies wanted someone with a few years of experience. Chanyeol assured him that he'll surely find the opportunity in Seoul. 

Speaking of, as they entered the border of the city, rain started to drizzle down the sky. It wasn't heavy but given the peak hour in the evening, they were stuck in traffic leading to Chanyeol's place. 

Remembering that Haesoo had saved some of the rice balls for them too, Baekhyun searched on the paper bag his mother had put it in along with the homemade kimchi she made for them. He brought the container out and opened the lid, the waft of something savoury quickly evaporated into the air. 

As if on cue, Chanyeol's stomach glowered at the tasty smell of food. Baek hyun stifled his giggles from slipping past his throat, the action didn't go unnoticed by his husband although the man decided not to retaliate.

"Want some?" Baekhyun asked after wiping his hands clean with some wet wipes. Picking up one sphere from the container, he swung it back and forth where the corners of Chanyeol's eyes could see. The man bit back his grin as he turned his head slightly to the side without removing his eyes from the road, body leaning to the side a little. The way he left his mouth hung open told Baekhyun enough that the man wanted him to feed him. 

Baekhyun instantly pursed his lips, suddenly hyper aware of the implication of the situation. 

"Hold it yourself, it'll be easier that way," he argued, as a small frown settled on his face. 

"My hands are probably dirty and I'm driving Baekhyun, I don't wanna get oils all over the place." 

Baekhyun's shoulders slumped down when he knew he's already losing the argument. 

"But if you don't want to feed me, then I'm not gonna force you," he added and was about to lean away to his original stature when fingers pinched on his arms and pulled to stop him from moving. The pain on his skin was dull but Chanyeol immediately swallowed the heavy grin that threatened to break on his face. Instead, he posed his head like he did just now and unhinged his jaw to open his mouth. 

With a complaint sitting at the very tip of his tongue, Baekhyun puffed his cheeks and shoved the whole of one rice ball into his husband's mouth. He let go of his arm and watched as Chanyeol tried not to choke on the amount of food in his mouth. 

"Ah, foo ma-ee," he complained with his mouth full, jaw numbing when he had to keep on munching on the food so he could swallow them little by little. 

Baekhyun chewed on his own rice ball, squealing at the delicious taste. 

Chanyeol chugged down a mouthful of his energy drink, his narrowing on his small husband. Catching the sight of the half eaten rice ball on his hand, his mind bubbled with mischief. 

Just as Baekhyun was about to pop the remaining hemisphere into his mouth, a hand snatched his wrist and the next thing he knew was that the remaining rice ball in his hand was gone and the lingering feeling of Chanyeol's lips against his fingers caused his stomach to flip over. 

Gasping out loud, he turned his head towards his husband, watching the man's cheeks globbing with a satisfied grin as he munched down on the food in his mouth. 

"You thief!" He accused, eyes bulging on Chanyeol's face. 

"It's called sharing, Baekhyun. And I like them to be smaller so it's easier for me to chew and swallow them. You can bite half and give the other half to me." 

The younger looked back at him incredulously. Chanyeol had spoken as though he was speaking of the weather while Baekhyun was hot on his seat and was about to combust anytime soon. 

When Baekhyun didn't give him any response, Chanyeol turned to his little husband to look at what extent the damage he had caused. 

He caught Baekhyun's narrowed eyes on him and for a moment, he stared into those eyes as if to read what was there in the younger's mind. 

"I hate you," Baekhyun spat before taking another rice ball and bit half of it before shoving the remaining half into Chanyeol's face. 

A smile crept up the man's face as he tipped his head back, his lips brushing against the nails of Baekhyun's slender fingers like a subtle kiss. 

"Thanks, Baekhyun," he let out before inching closer to take in the food while Baek hyun tipped it into his mouth. 

The younger pulled back his hand, feeling a sudden cold breeze over the back of his nape where the hand stood from a goosebump. His face was warm and Baekhyun refused to lift his head up, knowing the flush on his skin would be apparent if he did. 

Despite this, Baekhyun didn’t stop feeding himself and his husband until the container was empty and their stomachs were full.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments are very appreciated!! 😚❤


	5. Chapter 5

The supposed one hour and a half journey was stretched to another half an hour from the heavy traffic. When they finally reached Chanyeol's apartment complex in Gangdong District, the night curtain had already fallen around their side of the world, the dark night sky dotted with glittering stars. 

Once Chanyeol had parked his car in the designated box, he turned off the engine and they piled out of the car. 

Baekhyun took the paper bag with his mother's kimchi with him, his totebag clamped under his armpit as he waited for Chan yeol to take their baggage out. 

The man had his own duffle bag slung across his body by the long strap as both his hands held on the handles of Baek hyun's two luggage. 

"Let me take one," Baekhyun said, trying to pry one of the handles away from Chanyeol, feeling slightly guilty that he was leaving Chanyeol managing his own luggage. At Chanyeol's clicking tongue, however, he retreated his hand and opted to tow behind the taller man as he started walking towards the elevator. 

They made it up to the 16th floor where Chanyeol's unit was located. 

Chanyeol brought him in front of the door with the plat 4-1-6 where the wood shines under the lights in the hallway. Baekhyun could feel his heart thrumming in his chest as he anticipated to see the place he would call home from now on. The door beeped after Chanyeol entered his passcode. The man then pulled the door open and pushed the two luggage inside before holding it for Baekhyun to walk through. 

It was pitch black inside until Chanyeol flicked the light switch and the whole apartment lit up. The first thing Baekhyun saw was the dining area that further leads to the small kitchen. With eyes still wandering around, he placed the paper bag carefully on the dining table along with his totebag. 

As his feet padded over the marble floor, Baekhyun ventured further inside. He took notice of the brown door on his right, probably leading to one of the bedrooms, before his eyes skimmed over the living room ahead. It was completed with a grey coloured sofa set and a black TV cabinet sitting underneath the wide plasma TV on the wall. 

It wasn’t the most spacious apartment he had seen but it was still a pleasant sight to see, something cosy and looks comfortable to live in. 

The sound of Chanyeol clearing his throat made Baekhyun blink out of his stupor. He felt embarrassed for venturing in someone's home as though he was the owner. Turning his body to face Chanyeol, he saw how the man rubbed a palm over his nape as though he was nervous. 

"There's three bedrooms all together. This is the master bedroom," he pointed to the door Baekhyun had glanced upon just now, "And the other two is over there," he then pointed at a doorway right beside the three-seater sofa. Baekhyun followed wherever he was pointing at and nodded his head to let Chanyeol know that he was listening. 

"It's nothing fancy," Chanyeol said in a humble tone, "But it's our home from now on." 

Warmth spread through Baekhyun's body at Chanyeol's earnest words. Even though he knew his face was red and hot too, Baekhyun's eyes found Chanyeol's and his lips curled into a sweet smile. 

"It's perfect, Chanyeol. It definitely feels like home," his mellow voice muttered to his husband as a shy smile bloomed on his rosy tinted face. He heard a chuckle rumble through Chanyeol's deep voice at his words, making Baekhyun’s heart leap. 

"I want you to make yourself at home, be comfortable around the house, around me," Chanyeol said as he sauntered closer towards Baekhyun. "And by comfortable, I mean it when I say I want you to take all the time in the world to be comfortable around me,” he looked at Baekhyun deep into his eyes, trying to relay each and every word he spoke with intention. 

“I don’t want to force you to do anything, alright? So I'll let you choose, whether you want to move into my room right away, or you want to have a little bit more space and privacy as you get comfortable around me, I wouldn’t mind. I'll respect your choice, I promise."

Baekhyun's whole body trembled as he listened to what Chanyeol spoke to him. His eyes held those almond ones in a long gaze, to which he only found sincerities in them. 

"B-but, Chanyeol, we're... we're married..." he tried to reason, although a part of him was relieved that Chanyeol was prioritising his comfort rather than going down with what traditions would have wanted them to do. 

At Baekhyun's hesitation, Chanyeol rested his hand over his small husband's arm, warm palm gliding up and down the limb in a soothing manner.

"You don't have to pressure yourself to do something you don't want to, Baekhyun. We can work this slowly, give ourselves space to accept one another and slowly closing the boundaries in between. It's going to take time but I don't mind waiting." 

Baekhyun's toes curled with every word that Chanyeol uttered to him, his teeth digging into the flesh of his bottom lip. The hand that was rubbing soothing motion along his arm now settled to hold on his pinky. 

Chanyeol, in general, was a kind man and from the little time he had spent with his husband, Baekhyun could say that he had started to trust the man and time would be the judge on when he should do the same to his words. Chanyeol looks like the kind man that would hold onto his words and Baekhyun liked to say his judgement on Chanyeol won't go too far astray. He wanted to believe that Chanyeol is trustworthy but some part of him told him it was too soon to tell. 

But giving the man a chance to prove his worth would be only fair for both of them, given their situation.

With a tender smile gracing his face, Baekhyun looked up to his husband to give him a firm nod, his thumb caressing the fingers that curled around his left pinky.

"I want to know you more but I want to do it at my own pace. For that, I’d like to ask you to give me some time and my own space for the time being.” His small voice spoke carefully each and every word he uttered to Chanyeol. 

His husband let out a breath and clasped his big, warm palm over his own smaller hand, squeezing slightly as he spoke. “I understand. Take all the time you need, Baek hyun.”

“And you too?” Baekhyun said in a hurry, blinking his eyes up at his husband. Chanyeol’s eyes pierced back into his with waves of confusion. 

Baekhyun’s lips cracked into a smile at his quizzical expression. “Take your time to get to know me too? It’s a two way communication, I can’t do this alone.”

At the slight jutting of Baekhyun’s lips and the way Baekhyun squeezed his hand back, Chanyeol could feel his heart stuttering in his chest. A fond smile stirred up his plush lips as baek hyun’s words were played again on the back of his mind. 

“You have my words, Baekhyun. We’re in this together.”

Baekhyun took those words and some others that Chanyeol had uttered to him and stored them deep within the rows of his memories. It’s a promise that Chanyeol will keep and he had a promise of his own to live up to. For now, this was enough reassurance for both of them. 

* * *

The night was chilly due to the rain earlier in the day. The newlywed couple settled in their respective rooms to unpack their baggage and go about their own routine. 

The room Baekhyun settled in has a queen-sized bed in the middle and thus occupying most space in the room, a built-in closet at one side while across it was an empty wall with a window draped with curtains. 

He didn't feel like showering again since it was already chilly and he still felt fresh from the shower he had taken at his parents' house. Instead, he busied himself with unpacking his two luggage and filled the closet with his own clothes. 

He was almost finished with his first luggage when the door to his room was knocked. He waited for a while but seeing that no words were uttered from outside, he padded towards the door and twisted it open. 

His eyes met the sight of Chanyeol, his back facing him as though he was retreating away from the direction of Baekhyun's room. 

"Oh," the man said, stopping on his track and turning his body to face Baekhyun. "I thought you were already asleep. Just came to ask you if you want anything for dinner? I'll order something if you want to."

Baekhyun blinked his eyes at the offer. Half of his body was hidden behind the door and from Chanyeol's point of view, he could depict how Baekhyun managed to make himself look so small. 

"Uhm... I guess I'll pass. I'm still full from eating the rice balls earlier," he said, pressing his lips into a thin smile. 

Chanyeol's head tilted forward as his eyes narrowed with concern towards his small husband. "You sure? That's about an hour ago. It's almost 9 now. You could get hungry later. I don't have much food in store at the moment. Sure you don't wanna have something, for supper maybe?" 

Baekhyun's hidden feet were twisting behind the door as his teeth chewed on the flesh of his bottom lip in a thoughtful manner. 

"What do you wanna get?" He asked instead when he couldn't decide if he wanted to eat later or not. 

Chanyeol's lips quirked into a smile at the question. Folding his arms over his chest, he leaned his body so his shoulder rested against the door frame to Baekhyun's room. 

"I thought of ordering some pizza. I'm kinda full too but I doubt it'll last long. You want some pizza too?" 

Baekhyun's eyes lit up at the offer, his eyes flickering upwards to gaze over the taller before he slowly nodded his head. 

Chanyeol clicked his tongue and nodded his head too with satisfaction. 

"Any toppings you'd prefer? Pepperoni? Tuna? Pineapples or no pineapples?" 

At Chanyeol's bombardment of questions, Baek hyun couldn't help but to release a small chuckle, his head dipping down to conceal the sound. 

Chanyeol's eyes melted at the sight. His worries about the separation Baekhyun was experiencing with his family was toned down a notch at the sight of the smaller's smiling face.

"I don't mind having pineapples on my pizza," Baekhyun said with a bashful smile.

"Classy," Chanyeol commented. "So I'll get us a pineapple chicken and a beef pepperoni, how's that?" 

Baekhyun nodded his head again, affirming his husband's choices. 

"Any add-ons you wanna add? Spicy chicken drummet and wings? Or the mozzarella finger thingy, I don't remember what it's called." 

"It's, okay," the younger politely refused, "I'm fine with just the pizza." 

Chanyeol didn't insist any further at that. "Okay, one last thing: drinks? Some soda to pair up with your pizza?" 

Chanyeol's question had Baekhyun bitting his lips again. He didn't usually get the privilege of getting so many options when it comes to ordering food, so having Chanyeol offering him this and that got him a little overwhelmed. 

"I'll get you a coke. Or maybe you want sprite?" Chanyeol suggested when no words came from his small husband. 

This time, Baekhyun was bitting his lips to suppress the smile that threatened to blossom on his face. It's hard not to smile when someone was being super nice and considerate of you. 

"I think coke will do," he finally said after a moment of contemplation. 

Chanyeol beamed at his decision. "Great choice, sir. Your order will be up in 30 minutes," he said with a grin. "Come out in thirty minutes, okay? The food would probably arrive by then." 

He pushed himself away from the door frame and disappeared from the hallway. 

Baekhyun went back to unpacking his belongings, leaving the door slightly ajar so he could know when the food would arrive. 

Just as he finished unpacking his second luggage, the doorbell rang, indicating the arrival of the pizzas. Baekhyun could hear from the tell-tale of Chanyeol getting the food outside of his room. 

He quickly put away his empty luggage and changed into a more comfortable home clothings before padding out of his room. 

Chanyeol had set the coffee table with the food that had just arrived. The man was opening the pizza boxes when he realised Baekhyun approaching him. 

"Take a seat. Flip the channels and see if you could find something good to watch," Chanyeol said to him. 

Taking a seat on the one seater sofa across the small living room, Baekhyun snatched the remote control and started to flip through the channels. He stopped at a channel that was playing an episode of 'Return of the Superman' before making himself comfortable on the sofa. 

"Let's dig in," Chanyeol announced when he was done setting the food for them. Baekhyun waited for the man to take his own pizza piece before taking one for himself as well. 

They ate in silence. Baekhyun was slowly nibbling on his pizza as his eyes trained on the TV screen, stifling soft giggles every now and then at some funny parts of the show. 

Chanyeol did the same thing while occasionally averting his eyes to his husband from where he was sitting on the three-seater sofa. 

It was a tad bit awkward but none of them wanted to relieve the slight tension and proceeded to mind their own business. 

Baekhyun realised his canned soda was already popped open by his husband and the feverish feeling of giddiness came back to him. They continued to eat until a new variety show started and Baekhyun had shoved three pieces of pizza down his stomach and could barely have more. 

While Chanyeol was on his fifth pizza piece, Baekhyun brought his legs up onto the sofa and pressed them against his chest as he leaned further back into the back rest. He was holding the canned soda in his hand, taking a sip every now and then so he could finish the content. 

“Do you want more?” Chanyeol’s voice suddenly broke through the hazy sound coming from the TV. Turning his head to his husband, Baekhyun’s eyes trailed on the hand Chanyeol was pointing at the three pieces of pizza left in the box. 

He shook his head with lips slightly jutted to say that he doesn’t want more. Chanyeol hummed back lowly as he continued to pack up the leftovers. Baekhyun moved to help him, gulping the remaining of the soda down his throat. They cleaned up together, making sure no crumbs were left on the coffee table. By the time Baekhyun finished washing his hand, Chanyeol was done wiping the table clean and came to the sink to wash his hands as well. 

“Uhm, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun called hesitantly. The man lifted his head up to look at his husband, eyes questioning. 

“I’m gonna tuck in now. Thanks for the pizza,” he bashfully thanked him, eyes casted down to his feet. 

Smiling at Baek hyun’s words, Chanyeol finished up washing his hand and wiped it off on the hand towel just beside the sink. 

“Don’t mention it. Go on and tuck in. I’m heading to bed as well,” the man said as he stood in front of his small husband, liking how Baekhyun was a head shorter than himself. 

“Okay,” Baekhyun squeaked out. “Night.”

He quickly scurried away after saying that, small body disappearing into the doorframe of the hallway to his room. Chanyeol could only watch with an amused smile on his face, bidding him back with a silent ‘good night’ in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments are very appreciated!! 😚❤


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a little long but I hope you’ll enjoy it!! 🙈🙈

Baekhyun woke up with a start at the loud clanking sound of stainless steel hitting marble floor. The sound echoed across the small apartment as Baekhyun lurched forward from his sleep. 

From his periphery, he could see the lights seeping through the curtain of his room and he could tell that it was probably not early morning anymore. 

He blindly groped for his glasses and his phone before wearing them over his eyes while he flicked his phone to look at the time. 

9:12 AM. 

Groaning at the fact that he had woken up a tad bit later than he usually, he tossed the covers out of his way so he could go to the toilet. 

Using the guestroom meant that the toilet wasn't built-in. But luckily, there was a small hallway that connects the two guestrooms to one another and the middle of it stood the bathroom door. They were all encased into a space that extended out to the living room and kitchen through a door frame. It left a bit of privacy for him to walk from his room to the bathroom.

After completing his morning routine, Baekhyun walked out of his hidden cavern to find Chanyeol in the kitchen. There was a waft of something sweet as well as something burnt that alerted Baekhyun as he sauntered closer to the kitchen counter. 

"Morning," he was greeted with Chanyeol honey dripping morning voice, still chasing shivers down his spine. “Had a good night’s sleep?”

Humming back a response, Baekhyun took a seat on one of the stools and threw his gaze over at Chanyeol who was standing on the other side of the counter. His tall husband had his back facing him as he worked on something with a pan on the stove. He took notice of the bowl of what looks like a pancake batter with a ladle dipped within it. The sight tickled his chest. 

"You're making breakfast?" Baekhyun asked the obvious to break the ice. 

Chanyeol made a sheepish noise out of his throat at Baekhyun's curious question. 

"I'm trying to. Don't judge me," he rebuted, causing Baekhyun to crack a smile on his face. 

"What are you making?" He asked, even though he already had a hunch. 

"There's nothing much in store. I found a box of pancake mix and there's some milk and eggs so I guess this will do for breakfast this morning." 

He then turned around, a spatula in one hand as he placed his hands on the counter top right across where Baekhyun was leaning on. 

Baekhyun's eyes glimpsed to the toned arms belonged to his husband and the sight of veins crawling underneath his skin like vines had Baekhyun shifting on his seat.

"And that being said, we need to go grocery shopping today," the man said, his gravel voice bringing Baekhyun back to earth. 

"Oh... uhm, okay. We can do that," Baekhyun managed to say as scratched the spot at the back of his right ear with a finger to distract himself. 

Chanyeol gave him a satisfied grin and turned back around to finish flipping his pancakes. 

"I have a carton of apple juice in the fridge, go help yourself if you want some," he told Baekhyun without turning to look at him. 

Curious to look into the fridge, Baekhyun hopped off the stool and shuffled around towards the fridge. 

He opened it with big curious eyes, only to find the shelves mostly empty, except for the few eggs that were left on the door, a carton of apple juice like Chanyeol said, some chilled water in tumblers and also an opened pack of butter. He noticed a few apples lying around inside the fresh zone and Baekhyun couldn't help but frown.

Although he had things to say, Baekhyun kept it to himself as he took the carton of apple juice out. Just as he was about to close the fridge door, Chanyeol stopped him. 

"Can you take out the butter too. Pancakes won't taste like pancakes without some butter on top." 

At this, though, Baekhyun managed a smile as he took the butter in his free hand and closed the fridge door with a nudge of his shoulder. Walking back to the counter, Chanyeol now had set it with two plates of pancake stacks and placed a bottle of honey with them. 

Placing the apple juice box and the butter on the counter, Baekhyun took his seat back, smelling the waft of warm pancake around him. Chanyeol took the seat next to him with a mug of coffee for himself, an empty glass for Baekhyun, and a container filled with tablewear. He took a knife and a fork and passed them to his husband who took it with a whisper of 'thank you'. 

And on they went with their first breakfast together as husbands living under one roof. 

"Does it taste good?" Chanyeol asked as he eyed Baekhyun's puffy cheeks stuffed with buttered pancakes, drizzled with honey. 

Still chewing, Baekhyun managed a long hum as a response. When he was finally able to swallow the food in his mouth did he finally speak his thoughts. 

"It's soft and fluffy. I didn't know pancake mix made good pancakes," he said, looking awed. 

Despite it wasn't a recipe of his own — really, he just added some melted butter, milk and eggs, he couldn't take all the credits —, Chanyeol could still feel his chest bubbled with pride. At least he knew he had cooked it well. 

"For a moment, I thought you were describing yourself," he supplied as he took the mug of warm coffee to his lips to take a sip.

Missing the hidden meaning in Chanyeol's words, Baekhyun turned to face his husband once again after taking a mouthful chunk of pancakes, leaving crumbles stained the corner of his lips as he chewed the food in his mouth with a questioning look directed to Chanyeol. 

Chuckling softly, the man placed the mug back on the counter while his other hand reached out to wipe off the mess on Baekhyun's lips with his thumb. 

The action made Baekhyun freeze in his spot, his mouth stop moving, mind blanking out. His heart seized for a moment before it paced back twice the normal pace to compensate for the seconds he caught himself unable to breathe. 

"Soft and fluffy... just like you," he muttered, grinning and showcasing the perfect lines of pearly teeth to a thunderstruck Baekhyun. 

When he removed his hand away and proceeded to eat the rest of his breakfast, Baekhyun came back to his senses with a flush already adorning his face. Stiffly turning on his stool to face ahead, Baekhyun grabbed on his fork and stabbed the last piece of pancake stacks on his plate before stuffing it into his mouth. He almost choked on the food from the way he was trying to swallow it without properly chewing to ease the process. 

The sound he made caught Chanyeol's attention as his hand instinctively found his back to gently rub against. The touch seized Baekhyun from any movement once again. 

"Eat slowly, little monster. I know it's good, I promise we'll get more when we go out shopping later." 

At this point, Baekhyun's face was red out of pure seething annoyance and embarrassment towards his husband. Chugging the rest of his apple juice, he jumped off his stool and brought his plate to round the counter towards the sink on the other side. To his misfortune, however, from where he was standing in front of the sink, Chanyeol could have a feast on his cherry red cheeks from where he was sitting at the other side.

Baekhyun heard a snicker coming from him and his motor ability couldn't get a grip of himself and made the glass he was about to wash slipped out of his hand and fell with a loud noise into the sink. Baekhyun wanted nothing but to burn himself alive at this very moment. 

Chanyeol's deep guffaws taunt him as the man, too, stood from his stool and brought his empty plate and mug over to the sink. 

"Leave it. You can go and get yourself ready to go out. We're leaving in an hour or so."

At Chanyeol's words, Baekhyun took it as his opportunity to dash out of the kitchen and dashed away into his own room. 

Chanyeol was left to hear the impact of the door slamming shut, a lopsided grin on his face as he shook his head. Baekhyun really is an entertainment on his own. 

* * *

At around 10:30, Baekhyun walked out of his room and padded towards the living room with his socked feets. 

On his way, he noticed Chanyeol who was talking on the phone while he stood behind the kitchen counter, his other hand holding a glass of water that sits on the countertop. 

The man immediately took in Baekhyun's presence and motioned with his hand for a minute to let him finish the call. Baekhyun gave him an understanding smile as he made a beeline towards the sliding door that exits to a balcony. He unlocked the door and slid it open before stepping out to the balcony.

The balcony was bare of anything, which Baekhyun thought was such a shame because it could be made to look livelier. 

The wind pushed his hair to the side as he made his way to the railing. They were 6 floors up, and despite it not being at a high altitude point, Baekhyun could still feel the little fear as he slowly peeked downwards. 

The road wasn't packed with vehicles at this hour of the day. His eyes followed the few cars zooming down there before he craned his neck up to look at the sky beyond other tall buildings around him. 

Living in a city has its costs and one of if was the lack of natural scenery one can look at. There were trees here and there but you couldn't see a wide field of green just full of nothingness from a high level like this like you would in the countryside. 

Baekhyun was enjoying the soft hits of the wind against his face that it took him by surprise when he was straightening up, his back hit on something. 

Whipping his head around, he flinched slightly when he noticed his husband standing close behind him as he looked ahead. Their face was in such proximity that had Baekhyun instantly looking away, feeling his cheeks burning and his stomach flipping. 

"We can't have a garden at an apartment like this," Chanyeol spoke before averting his eyes to his small husband, "But the sky still looks the same, don't you think?" 

Baekhyun stared up onto the mesh of blue and cotton whites above, his mind discerning Chanyeol's words. He hummed appreciatively before saying, "Maybe it is." 

They stayed silent for a moment before Chanyeol cleared his throat and said, "Come on, let's get going." 

There was a light touch on Baekhyun's lower back, causing the younger to feel electric jolts coursing from the spot. Clutching on the strap of his totebag, he towed behind his husband back inside, walking past Chanyeol who was waiting to close and lock the door. 

They padded together towards the door. 

"Oh, before I forgot, there's something I want to show you," Chanyeol suddenly said as he beckoned Baekhyun to follow after him. 

They went to the coat cupboard, or that's what Baekhyun thought it was. Turns out, it was a small room with a built-in floor-to-ceiling 4-panel cupboard inside. 

Chanyeol opened one of the doors to reveal rows of racks with shoes almost half way through. 

"You can put your shoes in here, or the shoe cupboard back there," Chanyeol said, pointing at a shoes cupboard behind them. Baekhyun realised his own shoes were sitting on top of it. 

"And this side, you can hang your coats and whatever. There's a few drawers here too, you can keep your socks or maybe winter gloves, anything really, just use up the space." 

After closing the two doors, they moved to the other two. 

"Now this is where my secret lies," Chanyeol said, almost in a whisper, making Baekhyun snicker softly at his act. 

When he opened it, Baekhyun let out a small gasp causing Chanyeol to laugh at his reaction. 

"You didn't think it would be somewhere here right?" 

Baekhyun could only look with awe at the machines stacked together inside the cupboard with shelves holding detergent and fabric softener at the side. 

"Down here is the washing machine, up here is the dryer. You can straight up dry the laundry after washing it. You did notice that we don't have anywhere to hang our clothes, it's because the dryer is here to do the job. Have you used a dryer before?" 

Baekhyun blinked back his eyes when his husband’s face suddenly came into his line of vision. 

“Y-yeah, I have.”

Chanyeol gave him a satisfied nod at that.

“Can you reach it, though?” He then asked, eyes casted down to look at Baekhyun before shifting them back to the dryer, the question more of concern rather than to tease.

Baekhyun’s face settled with a small frown as he huffed. 

“Of course I can,” he said, as he opened the door to the dryer with a new found aggression, almost hitting it over his tall husband’s head but he didn’t care because he has a point to prove. 

And the proof was that, when he stretched his hand into the opening of the dryer, Baekhyun found himself tip-toeing as he tried to reach the back of the machine. 

Grumbling under his breath, he tried straining his body as much as he can, as though he was made of some elastic material that could stretch and return back to its normal shape. 

A low chuckle was heard behind him and Baekhyun could feel his face burning in embarrassment at the sound. 

A hand patted over his hip, causing the smaller of the two to retract his effort that had shown to be futile. 

When he stepped aside and dared to glance at his husband, the man had a ghost of an amused smile over his lips. 

“I thought so,” he mused as he pushed the door to the dryer lightly to close it, “Remind me to buy a stool for you, okay?” 

Baekhyun’s nose flared at his husband’s words, causing him to jut his lips out into a pout. 

“We should get going now,” he said instead, turning around to slip on his snickers before side-stepping around to make his way out of the small space. 

Chanyeol closed the closet and slipped on his loafers before towing after his small, furying husband who was waiting for him by the door outside. 

Stepping out, he pulled the door to close with a beep before leading the way to the elevator and they both rode down the building in silence to the basement to get into Chanyeol’s car. 

Baekhyun’s sulking didn’t stretch for long. Once he was in the car and they were making their way out of the basement parking, he was starting to look forward to doing the grocery together with his husband. 

“Do you drive, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol punched in to start a conversation. 

“Hmm?” Baekhyun perked up at the question before turning his head to look at his husband. “I, uhh, I have a driving license,” he said instead before continuing further as he saw Chanyeol glimpsing briefly his way. 

“I drive... but not that much. Usually dad would drive me and mom around. If he wasn’t there to take the wheels, only then I would drive.”

A low hum coming from Chanyeol told that he was listening to what Baekhyun said.

“You scared of driving?” The man asked out of curiosity. Baekhyun scrunched his nose to think for a while before rebutting his husband’s assumption. 

“Not scared...maybe I’m just not used to it so it feels awkward whenever I actually do. But I never got into an accident or anything.”

Baekhyun didn’t catch the slight grin that swept across Chanyeol’s face because he was taken aback when a motorcycle passed by their car as though it was almost colliding over. 

“On a second thought, maybe driving in a big city like this would be scary,” he commented mindlessly. 

Chanyeol let out a chuckle at that. “Well, I’m not gonna say everyone is a civilised driver here but it’s not actually that bad. The key is to focus on your lane, make sure to use the signals and follow the basic rules, you know. And if anything happens,” Baekhyun saw as Chanyeol’s hand moved from the steering wheel to somewhere behind the rearview mirror, “we have a dashcam here so there’s evidence to anything.” 

Baekhyun chewed on his lower lips at Chanyeol’s explanation. There’s logic in his words but Baekhyun doubted it’s all that it’ll take to convince him to drive around the city. 

“We should take you to practice and get used to the roads here,” Chanyeol piped up when Baekhyun stayed silent for too long. They were already nearing the hypermarket which was just a traffic light away. 

Baekhyun didn’t refute nor did he agree but his silence was answer enough for the both of them. 

They arrived at the supermarket and the parking was not so vacant as Baekhyun thought it would be considering that it was almost in the middle of a working day. 

As they crossed the distance from where Chanyeol parked his car to the entrance, Baekhyun found his hand was held in Chanyeol’s own like it was second nature and the act had his stomach flipping. Although Baekhyun considered himself old enough to walk on his own, the action wasn’t unwelcome and for a moment, basked in the feeling of walking hand in hand with his husband. 

The moment, however, was not everlasting as Chanyeol traded his hand for the trolley handle instead. Baekhyun towed close after his husband as they entered they started doing their groceries. 

Chanyeol suggested that they go from one department to another and explicitly told Baekhyun to ‘take anything you want’ while he leisurely pushed the trolley with him. 

A moment of conflict hit Baekhyun because there are a lot of things he wished to take home but at the same time, he didn’t want to cave into his desire. He should not take Chanyeol’s offer for granted and should only take what he needs. 

But his eyes lingered a bit too long on the mountain of plush pillows which costs only a couple of thousand wons and also the light yellow pan and pot set that was on a 40% discount. But he tucked all the desires into the back of his head and proceeded to focus on what he needed to buy.

If Chanyeol saw his hesitation to take something from the shelf and put it into their trolley, he didn’t say anything about it, he merely observed. 

When touring around the home and living department hadn’t get them put anything into their trolley — accept the fruit peeler Chanyeol had put in since he didn’t have one at home and Baekhyun’s stool that Chanyeol insisted to buy despite the younger’s protests —, they proceeded to go to the other department. 

They went to the personal care department and here, Baekhyun started to put a few things into the trolley. He picked up a body wash, toothpaste and toothbrush; he brought his own shampoo and conditioner from home but seeing that they were on discount, he dumped those in too; and a few more things. 

They then moved to the detergent section. Chanyeol told Baekhyun to pick whichever he’d prefer but Baekhyun felt a little bit uncertain about leaving the final choice on him since they would be sharing everything from now on. So the soft banter happened.

“Chanyeol, which laundry detergent should we get?” 

“Take anything you prefer.”

“Chanyeol, do you use this brand or this one here for fabric softener?”

“I don’t even remember. Pick anything you like. I don’t mind.”

“Chanyeol, lemon or grapefruit?” 

Baekhyun was holding a lemon scented dish soap on his left hand and a grapefruit scented one on the other and he showed it to his husband with his lips unconsciously jutted outwards. Chanyeol who had been observing Baekhyun fussing about a dishwashing soap was stretching his lips in a lopsided grin. 

He walked over to his small husband, his looming figure towering over him. Then, he took both bottles of dishwashing soap and put them inside the trolley. 

“Let’s just take both,” he simply said.

Baekhyun was at a loss for words. 

“But... but... we don’t need that many. With only the two of us, one bottle could last two months,” he reasoned. 

Chanyeol didn’t show it but deep inside he actually appreciated how Baekhyun spoke for the two of them. He used collective pronouns in his speech and Chanyeol felt included whenever he did that.

“Then what should we do?” He asked, almost subconsciously because he was busy grinning like an idiot at this very moment. 

Baekhyun made to pout even deeper as his eyes looked over the trolley that was almost half full before his eyes darted back to his husbands. Those eyes drooped when he found Chanyeol’s and the man felt his breath hitching in his throat. 

“Pick one for me, please.”

And Chanyeol was a goner. 

For a fraction, his soul left his body and his mind went blank. But as sudden as it did, he came back to senses and cleared his throat, looking away to hide his facial expression. He stared into the trolley at the two bottles of dishwashing soap in particular. He couldn’t believe he’s having an existential crisis in the middle of choosing a dishwashing soap. 

After a while, he finally decided. Taking the lemon scented on in his hand, he turned around to face his husband. 

“Uhh, lemon seems basic. We should get the grapefruit one, I guess.”

And even though he had just picked a dishwashing soap for Baekhyun, the younger seemed so pleased about it he started to cling on Chanyeol’s arm as they walked along another aisle. Chanyeol tried his best to hide the smile that kept wanting to breach his lips. 

Time flies by without them realising it. They put every possible thing they would need at home into the trolley, including ingredients to cook. Chanyeol wasn’t that familiar with these things so he left Baekhyun to pick up the spices and choose fresh vegetables for them. He did, however, know how to choose good meats. 

When passing through the freezer side, Chanyeol told his husband to pick up a tub of his favourite ice cream. Baekhyun had looked at him with that child-like glimmer in his eyes and had skipped his way to pick up his favourite flavour. 

After deeming that they were done with the groceries, Chanyeol pushed the trolley and joined a line at an opened cashier. He looked at the full trolley and couldn’t help the smile on his face. It felt surreal because he had never come to the supermarket and walked out with a full trolley before and Chanyeol himself doesn’t do much cooking at home so there was no reason to buy groceries that often. 

But now, looking at their full trolley and glancing over at Baekhyun who had a hand resting over the handle beside his own, Chanyeol felt an unfamiliar contentment washing over him, as though he had done something good and he had done it right. 

Suddenly, he was reminded of how Baekhyun had refused to take anything at the snacks section and the contentment simmered down a little bit. 

“Hey, Baekhyun,” he called out for his husband. Baekhyun who was mindlessly watching the ad displayed on the flat TV above them jolted lightly and whipped his head around. His wide eyes found Chanyeol’s almond ones. 

Chanyeol smiled at his reaction. “Sure you don’t want some snacks?”

Baekhyun blinked his wide eyes at him, not understanding the implication of his question. 

“Come on, go and take something for you to snack on at home. I really have nothing else for you to munch on if you don’t get them now.”

Baekhyun chewed on his lower lip, his eyes gazing at the customer before them that had started loading their groceries onto the counter. He had time. 

“Wait a minute, okay,” he said, as he slowly stepped backwards and after receiving a small nod from his husband, he dashed back to the snacks section. He stopped to pick up a mini pack of chocolate bars before taking his favourite chocolate coated biscuit. He thought that was enough until he walked past the shelf of pepero and his eyes zeroed in on the largest pack with a half price discount. Baekhyun lost his self restraint. 

He came back to Chanyeol who has started loading out their stuff from the trolley onto the counter with hands full of snacks. Well, in addition to the mini chocolate bars and chocolate coated biscuit, he had taken one of the big boxes of pepero and picked up a pack of gummy and chips on his way back. 

When he dropped his quick pick onto the counter, Chanyeol stared at them with an impressed expression. Baekhyun started to worry. 

“I-is it too much?” He asked, eyes finding Chanyeol’s face to gauge his expression. But Chanyeol only threw his head back and laughed. 

“No, of course not. I just... haha... you said you didn’t want anything but you came back with a truck of snacks. I’m just impressed.”

Baekhyun’s nose flared at his husband’s words. When the grin didn’t wash away from Chanyeol’s face after a few seconds, Baekhyun walked over to him and pinched his side. 

“Stop making fun of me,” he warned but Chanyeol didn’t get to tease him back as the cashier spoke out the total of their purchase. 

Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol whisked out his wallet from the back pocket of his pants and took out his credit card from it. He didn’t get to actually see the total of their purchase so he made a note to ask Chanyeol later. 

They walked out of the supermarket with Chanyeol pushing the trolley to their car. They both loaded the grocery bags into the bonnet. They strapped in the car and Chanyeol asked if they should go and have lunch. 

Baekhyun agreed to that without any restraint. He then remembered about asking Chanyeol something so he did it then. 

“How much did we spend just now?”

Chanyeol took his time to answer as he was waiting for the road to clear so they could get into their lane. 

“How much did you ask? Around 60 thousand wons, I think,” he said as though he was talking about the weather. 

Baekhyun, however, was baffled. “Sixty thousand wons?” He exclaimed, suddenly feeling guilty for taking so many snacks for himself. 

As if catching what was playing in his husband’s mind, Chanyeol quickly assured him. “It’s normal, though. I bought groceries for my mom and it could reach 100 thousand wons sometimes. Don’t fret about it, okay?” 

Baekhyun wasn’t relieved at all but he tried not to think of it. He had bought groceries with his parents too and he couldn’t remember paying as much for the three of them back at his parents’. It could be due to the fact that his parents went to the fresh market which sells their goods at a cheaper price. Plus, they don’t buy that much vegetables as his father grows them on his own in his small garden. 

His train of thoughts was stopped when the car skidded into a halt and they were now in front of a row of shops in the city. 

“I hope you don’t mind Japanese. I’ve been craving sashimi since last week. Come on.”

They entered a Japanese restaurant and immediately, the waft of food hit Baekhyun sense and suddenly he was very hungry for food. 

They settled on a booth where Chanyeol ordered a half-and-half platter of sushi and sashimi while Baekhyun mulled over what he should eat. He had only tried a few Japanese dishes and contemplated whether he should just order what he had had or try something new. In his conflict, he asked Chanyeol for a little advice. 

“Do you eat raw stuff, like the sashimi?” He asked for starters. Baekhyun shook his head with a little frown on his forehead. 

“How about sushi?”

“I like them but I wanna try something new.”

Chanyeol ended up explaining through every section in the menu to let Baekhyun get the idea of what each dish will come with. He looked so natural at explaining all the dishes that Baekhyun thought Chanyeol just loves Japanese food. But then he remembered that Chanyeol had stayed in Japan for a great amount of years and that should be the reason why he seemed so familiar with it.

By the end of Chanyeol’s explanation, Baekhyun thought he couldn’t shake off the image of tempura from his mind so he decided to order a rice bowl with tempura while Chanyeol suggested adding a plate of takoyaki. 

They talked through their food which centered around Chanyeol’s stay in Japan as Baekhyun had brought it up. They stayed around an hour, just talking and eating until their stomachs were full. 

Upon stepping out of the restaurant, Chanyeol had steered Baekhyun away from the car. 

“There’s a bakery here. Let’s buy some bread and pack a few pastries if you want.”

Baekhyun was honestly already full, he doesn’t think he could pick anything else that is food based at this moment. 

But says who that he can’t?

When they stepped into the bakery and the smell of freshly baked bread and pastries hit him, Baekhyun found a new will to bring about his heavy belly. 

They picked up a loaf of bread and Chanyeol took some muffins for himself. Baekhyun picked up some red bean paste buns for stocks and decided on a Portuguese egg tart and a chicken Danish. 

When they were back in Chanyeol’s car, Baekhyun stopped thinking about how much he had spent using his husband’s money and chose to be content that he had some pastries to look forward to once he was home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments are very appreciated!! 😚❤


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY A NEW UPDATE!! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR WAITING PATIENTLY 😭🤲🏼 PLEASE HELP YOURSELF 😚

The next day, the husbands spent a slow morning while they moved around the small kitchen to prepare breakfast. 

Chanyeol suggested that they make french toast from the bread they picked up from the bakery yesterday. Baekhyun insisted to help but he only got to whisk the eggs before he was pushed away to sit on the stool by the kitchen counter. 

They ate breakfast over a small conversation. 

"Do you have all your legal documents with you, Baekhyun?" Chanyeol asked as they finished breakfast and Baekhyun just finished washing the dishes for them. 

"Hmm yeah, I think I bring all of my documents here. Why?" 

"Can I have a look at them?" 

Baekhyun's eyes slowly blinked at the question as he dried his hand with the hand towel. 

"Uhm, sure. You want it now?" 

He watched his husband nod his head with a smile on his face. Baekhyun excused himself to his room to fetch the file he had placed all his legal documents in. He emerged out of his room to find Chanyeol sitting on the three-seater sofa, prompting him to come and sit beside him while he placed the file on the coffee table in front of him. 

"Here," he said as he straightened up his spine in his seat. 

Chanyeol murmured a small 'thanks' to him before his hands reached out for the files, body leaning forward as he started to look on everything.

Baekhyun leaned back against the armrest, bottom lip chewed between his teeth as he watched Chanyeol flipped through each document. 

"Perfect!" Chanyeol exclaimed after a while, stacking the documents back and placed them in the files. "Mind me borrowing this for a few days?" He asked, tuning his head to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun's eyes widened by a fraction at the request. "Oh, why would you need them?" He asked, looking curiously at his husband. 

Chanyeol's lips stretched into a smile, leaning back into the sofa as he took a sideway glance to Baekhyun's curious face. 

"I need to update your insurance, and maybe add your name in my investment plan," he explained, smiling to himself. 

Baekhyun's jaw unhinged and laid agape for a moment. 

"O-oh… but- I probably need to take care of my own insurance… but-" 

"You're unemployed," Chanyeol finished for him. One of his hands reached out to thread his fingers between Baekhyun's blonde locks. 

Casting his eyes down, Baekhyun subconsciously jutted his lips out, the prospect of unable to provide for himself even after moving out of his parents' house starting to get into his mind. 

"I need to find a job fast," he said, almost to himself but audible enough for Chanyeol to hear it because the man chuckled after that thought crossed his mind. 

Baekhyun turned his head to the side, watching the corners of Chanyeol's eyes crinkled as he laughed. 

"I'm not stopping you but I'm not forcing you either," Chanyeol when his eyes flickered to look at his husband. "And while you're still unemployed, I'm taking you under my care." 

There was clearly no room for argument in the way Chanyeol said it and it's not like Baekhyun had any better plan to get in the way of Chanyeol's generosity. 

He was silent for a moment, suddenly conscious of what a burden he must have been for Chanyeol to take care of. 

"I'll find a job soon," he said in a sudden boost of will-power. "T-thank you for doing this for me," he added, and suddenly the burst of confidence melted down when he bashfully bowed his head in front of his husband, a silent gesture of respect for the man who will carry all the burden of providing for him until he gets himself a job. 

Chanyeol cooed at his action, finding him adorable as he twiddled with the strands of hair between his fingers. 

"You don't have to thank me," he said, grinning brightly at Baekhyun who only felt like he didn't deserve the kindness Chanyeol was showing him.

He was determined to be a good husband to Chanyeol and for that he decided that he's going to cook whatever that Chanyeol wanted to eat. Now that he thought about it, those help hands he did back with his mother had made him pick up on how to cook edible food and he was glad that he had done that. 

As he was about to ask Chanyeol what he'd want to eat for lunch, the man beat him to it. 

"Let's get ready," he announced, slowly untangling his fingers from Baekhyun's. 

"We're going out?" Baekhyun asked, head tilted to the side in confusion. 

"Yeah," his husband straightened up, turning his head to keep facing him, "I'll show you around. We can stop by somewhere for lunch later." 

"Oh…" was Baekhyun's response as he realised his plan to impress his husband with his own cooking was thrown out of the window. 

"Okay," he added without further protest. He watched Chanyeol walk into his own room, not even bothering to close the door. His shoulders sagged a little but he made his way to his own room as well, consoling himself that he can cook for his husband another time.

  
  


Chanyeol took him out on a car ride to show him around. He pointed out the nearest convenience store, mini mart, pharmacy, clinics and other places he deemed necessary for Baekhyun to know. 

He also taught Baekhyun things pertaining to his car, how to find the navigation and some places that he already set their locations in the options. Baekhyun listened diligently, wondering to himself if there was any need for him to drive around at this moment. 

Baekhyun is a homebody, staying at home and minding his own business keeps him alive so he doesn't see himself going out of the house without necessary reasoning. 

They stopped by a restaurant which Chanyeol mentioned he'd frequent to have lunch when he's at work. He drove Baekhyun to look over the building of his workplace and Baekhyun was impressed by how tall it is. 

They drove around, Chanyeol pointing this and that, here and there, while Baekhyun hummed and nodded his head, already giving up on memorising them at this point. But he appreciated Chanyeol's effort and warm gesture to take him around. It felt nice to sit in a car with him, another playlist from Chanyeol's phone playing in the stereo while they engaged in small talks. 

Before going back home, they made a stop at a roadside stall for snacks. Chanyeol offered Baekhyun some beer but he refused with his cheeks tinted in embarrassment.

"I'm a lightweight. You really don't wanna deal with me when I'm drunk," he said, ending up with a can of soda while Chanyeol had his can of beer.

Before getting into the car Chanyeol had passed Baekhyun the keys, indicating him to drive them back home, reasoning that he had alcohol in his system so it should be wise for Baekhyun to drive them back home. Baekhyun paled at the proposition. 

"B-but, I'm not used to the roads here. What if we get lost?" He asked, despite already seated in the driver's seat. 

Chanyeol curled his lips and pointed at the screen of the navigator in his car, not buying Baekhyun's reasoning. 

"But that's gonna take a while, and I drive at like 40 kilometers per hour," he exaggerated, not yet backing away from making up excuses. 

"It's okay. We're not in a rush. You can take all the time in the world." 

It took them a whole 10 minutes -- Baekhyun even burned his dignity to act cute in front of Chanyeol only for his husband to shake his head while chuckling in amusement --, before he finally strapped over the seatbelt and readied himself to drive.

He set the navigation to Home and they were set to go. 

It was around 3 in the afternoon, the traffic was bearable. Baekhyun's hands were gripped tightly around the steering wheel as he drove the car with absolute care. 

They only arrived at the apartment complex after Baekhyun made two wrong turns and panicked for a whole minute both times while Chanyeol stayed stoic beside him, letting him overcome the fear all by himself. 

Even after driving into the basement parking lot, Baekhyun faced obstacles when he attempted to park the car backwards, only to have it stuck somehow and Chanyeol laughing at his failure. 

He stomped out of the driver seat, waiting outside while Chanyeol took over to fix the damage he had done. It took him a while, but he managed it anyway and Baekhyun's face was burning in embarrassment when his husband got out of the car and locked the doors, a teasing smile dangling on his handsome face. 

Not being able to let his dignity crash with each step Chanyeol took towards him, Baekhyun dashed towards the elevator, urgently pressing on the upwards button, lips pulled tight into a thin line. 

His husband came to him with an arm draped around his back and a chuckle leaving his lips. Baekhyun let himself stay rigid in his hold when Chanyeol pulled him closer to himself, his breath fanning warm air around the shell of his ear. 

"You did well, Baekhyun," he muttered, squeezing Baekhyun gently in his arm. 

Baekhyun dared to peek an eye up at his husband, catching the wide, pleased smile on his face. The sight caused his heart to trip and had Baekhyun's breath hitching in his throat. 

They were distracted with the elevator that came with a ding, the door opening up with a lady walking out. Baekhyun suddenly felt self conscious about the close proximity but before he could do anything about it, Chanyeol was dragging him inside by the shoulder. 

He let go of Baekhyun once they were inside and the door closed to take them up. It was eerie quiet, almost suffocating for Baekhyun. Somehow, he felt as though he was being watched and he refused to affirm his assumption, scared to even catch his husband looking at him. 

"It wasn't so bad, right?" Chanyeol started when the silence got more deafening. 

Baekhyun gave him a look and an arch of his eyebrow, silently asking for the context of his question. 

"Driving around," Chanyeol supplied, his boyish smile coming back.

"Yeah," Baekhyun said in return, completely making the conversation hit a dead end. Thankfully, they arrived at their floor and both of them filed out of the elevator and silently made their way back to their apartment unit. 

Chanyeol was casually whistling a random tune, probably to fill in the silence that fell between them. They immediately split up after entering the house; Chanyeol went to the kitchen to have a drink while Baekhyun went straight to his room, diving into his bed and thrashing around to release all the pent up emotions he had been keeping to himself. 

He could not keep up with his husband like this, not when his heart kept pounding against his chest just at the thought of being close to him. Baekhyun needed to have a grip on himself and stop making a fool of himself. 

* * *

Baekhyun had set his alarm to go off at 7 am the next day. He didn't know if it was necessary to wake up that early but Chanyeol would be going to work that day and somehow, it only felt right to wake up early and send him off to work. The mere thought of it had Baekhyun feel queasy on the inside, giddy and ridiculous at the same time. 

He went to freshen himself up before heading out into the kitchen. Baekhyun had been confiding with himself about what to make for breakfast. He was not sure if Chanyeol preferred having heavy meals for breakfast on work days, so he opted to make some egg rolls. They had some leftover tofu soup and rice from their dinner last night which Baekhyun heated up, in case Chanyeol decided to have something heavy to start his day. 

While he was rolling the eggs in the pan, he heard the clicking sound of a door opening, and soft thudding of footsteps coming closer towards him. 

A groggy voice still heavy with sleep greeted him. "You're already up?" 

Baekhyun turned his head to catch the sight of his husband as though he had just woken up from sleep, hair tangled up at awkward angles and his eyes barely open. Baekhyun suppressed the smile that threatened to show on his face, his heart tickled by the sight of his still sleepy husband. 

"I'm making breakfast," he filled him in, the corner of his eyes watching Chanyeol making his coffee with the coffee maker like it was second nature to do so. 

When the egg roll is thoroughly cooked, he transfers it into a plate, grabbing a knife to cut it into thick slabs.

"Smells good," Chanyeol's voice suddenly came from his side, startling Baekhyun even more with the hand that rested so tenderly on his back. He could feel the heat from Chanyeol's body transferring to him and he could  _ feel _ the tell-tale of his heartbeat picking up from their proximity.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," Chanyeol said with the dull feeling of his fingers dipping slightly into Baekhyun's skin before the touch disappeared along with the warmth that his body supplied. 

Baekhyun had to hold himself against the edge of the kitchen counter to properly breathe because he had been holding his breath without realising it. He overcame his emotions after a while and proceeded to set up the table. 

When he had finished setting up the table and Chanyeol had yet to come out to have breakfast, Baekhyun busied himself with washing the dishes. 

Chanyeol finally emerged from his room when Baekhyun almost finished rinsing the dishes, and the first thing that Baekhyun noticed was the whiff of his cologne that has a masculine scent, something not too overpowering, but still smelling good nonetheless. 

Baekhyun lifted his head up to glimpse at the sight of his tall and brooding husband walking out of his room like he just walked out of a magazine. The contrast from what he had seen earlier made his mouth stand slightly agape. 

Chanyeol walked out wearing a fitting dress shirt in navy blue, that stretched nicely over his broad shoulders. The top two buttons were left open, giving the slightest peek of skin underneath. The dress shirt was matched with dark grey dress pants, the shirt tucked in with a black belt held around the waist. His hair was styled up with a few strands just stubbornly dangling over his forehead, not in an offensive manner. 

The man was fixing his watch when he looked up to meet his small husband's eyes. He flashed Baekhyun a smile, one that seemed to knock the breath out of his lungs and effectively made him realise how he had been drooling over the sight of his husband in his working attire, looking like a whole feast. 

God, Baekhyun should stop this type of narration in his head, it's starting to drive him crazy. 

Chanyeol went to make his coffee first, to which Baekhyun took as an open escape for him to cross the small distance from the kitchen towards the dining table. 

He sat on a chair, his eyes overlooking the simple breakfast he made. It wasn't particularly appetising but Baekhyun hoped it was too bad. 

Chanyeol joined him moments later with a mug of warm coffee in his hand. He sat across Baekhyun, his eyes scanning the table like Baekhyun did. Baekhyun watched nervously for any reaction coming from his husband. What he got was a small smile that quirked up by the corner of his lips and Baekhyun couldn't decide if it was a good thing. 

"I'm not sure if you prefer a heavy meal in the morning. Mom and dad usually eat something like this for breakfast," he said hesitantly as he saw Chanyeol flicking his eyes up to look at him. The man let out a small chuckle at the anxious look painting his face. 

"This is actually a feast for me. I rarely have anything for breakfast, to be honest. I usually just drink my coffee and I'm good to go." Chanyeol picked up his chopsticks and started to dig in. 

Baekhyun watched for a moment, still uncertain of what to do with the information supplied to him. 

Chanyeol took notice of his absentmindedness and placed one slab of the egg roll on top of his rice, urging Baekhyun to eat along. 

Breakfast went on without a glitch. Chanyeol seemed to like the food, considering how he finished off the egg rolls. It was filling Baekhyun's heart full, knowing that his husband had enjoyed the food he made. 

He told Chanyeol to leave the dishes and for that, his husband offered him another charming smile that almost wooed Baekhyun to the ground. 

His heart had been making morning laps since early in the day and just as Baekhyun thought it was enough running for the day, his heart started to race again when Chanyeol came out of his room, complete in a dress suit the same tone of his dress pants, his laptop bag on his back and dashing-looking black helmet on his hand. 

What the hell? 

"What's the helmet for?" He couldn't help but to ask, startling Chanyeol a little with the suddenness of his question.

"I ride my motorbike to work," he casually supplied, as if the mere images of Chanyeol on a motorbike didn't strike any nerves within Baekhyun's being. 

Oh, hell it did. 

"You have a motorbike?" Baekhyun repeated, his voice incredulous, making Chanyeol chuckle at his reactions. 

"Yeah," he said sheepish. "I meant to show you one of these days, maybe take you out on a ride but... I don't have a spare helmet for you," his voice trailed off as he watched Baekhyun's face painted with amazement. 

"No shit," Baekhyun said with his eyes filled with amazement. "I wanna have a look!" 

At the eagerness displayed on Baekhyun's face, Chanyeol couldn't help but to let out an amused chuckle. "Sure, sure. Let's go and meet my baby." 

Baekhyun's ears perked at the last two words, the excitement faded from his eyes for a moment. He was handed the helmet, to which he blindly caught into his arms. Baekhyun trotted close behind his husband, after slipping on his slippers, out of the house. 

They hopped into the elevator and Baekhyun casted his eyes down, looking at his own reflection against the visor of the helmet. 

"How long since you got the motorbike?" Baekhyun found himself asking, tearing his gaze away from his reflection to glimpse over at his husband. 

Chanyeol hummed thoughtfully as he mulled over the question. "I bought it first thing when I moved back here, so that's around 4 years now." 

Baekhyun nodded at his answer. "Why a bike, though?" 

The question was based off plain curiosity and yet, Baekhyun found himself captivated when he saw the smile blooming on Chanyeol's lips. 

"I guess I'm used to it? I used to ride on a scooter back in Japan. I guess it's easier with a bike. You don't get stuck in traffic for too long because you can sneak in between, very useful for a hectic city like this."

They arrived at the basement parking, Baekhyun followed after Chanyeol who took an opposite turn than what they used to when they were heading to his car. 

"Isn't it dangerous? Slipping in between cars like that?" 

Chanyeol chuckled softly at the innocent question. 

"It did take a lot of practice for me to become a pro at sneaking around," Chanyeol said with a smug smile thrown at Baekhyun. "You don't like the idea of riding a motorbike, aren't you?" 

Catching Chanyeol's stare on him, Baekhyun pursed his lips together as he answered him. "I've never personally experienced it but I do want to try it someday." 

They reached an area where variations of motorcycles were parked in two lines. Chanyeol brought Baekhyun not far from where they came from and jabbed in the key to unlock the handle.

He reversed his bike and Baekhyun found himself gaping at the sight of the vehicle. 

It was bathed in matte black with a splash of red on the side frame in stripes. Chanyeol eased it out of the parking box before swinging one leg over it and seated himself on its seat. 

"Meet my baby," he said impishly, patting the front of his motorbike while watching as Baekhyun rolled his eyes at him.

"Looks cool," Baekhyun commented as he raked his eyes all over the monster. He stepped around it and stood beside his husband while his eyes peered into the control panels where he was greeted with meters and numbers that he wasn't familiar with. 

He turned on the engine, the slight roaring making an impressive sound. 

"Wanna give it a press?" Chanyeol asked before he pressed on the handlebar and the engine roared to life. Baekhyun was elated by the sound of it. 

The helmet in his hand was taken away as Baekhyun placed his dainty fingers around the rod-like part before twisting it slightly. The engine let out a low hum, prompting Baekhyun to press harder while his lips stretched into a gleeful smile. 

A loud vrooming sound accompanied that hard press, causing Baekhyun to gasp in pleasant surprise, mouth hanging slightly as he looked back at Chanyeol. 

The man laughed silently at his reactions, admiring them as Baekhyun made another long press. 

"You're gonna wake up the whole building, Baek," Chanyeol uttered to him, making Baekhyun stop with a sheepish laugh. 

"I'll take you on a ride, someday, after we get you your own helmet," he said as he flipped his helmet to line the opening. Baekhyun beamed at his words, feeling the content in his stomach swish-swashing around while his heart fluttered with giddiness. 

"Oh, and by the way. I left the car keys on the dresser in my room. If you need to use it, just go and get it alright. My room wasn't locked or anything." 

"Okay," Baekhyun noted with a small nod. 

"And call me if you need anything." 

"Right." 

"Don't forget to close and lock the door." 

"Hmmm." 

"I'll be back around 5.30, 6 o'clock top." 

"Okay." 

"I'll miss you." 

Baekhyun's heart stuttered before he could even digest the words being uttered to him, breath knocked out of his lungs. The small smile that grazed his face disappeared as his face paled while his eyes darted around to search for Chanyeol's. 

To his utter disbelief, the man had covered his face fully with the helmet, the tinted visor only mirrored his own reflection that looked utterly thunderstruck. Baekhyun felt heat surging on his face which forced him to look away, and made a few steps back in hope that Chanyeol wouldn't see how embarrassed he was at the moment. 

"See you later, Baek." Chanyeol's voice was muffled from behind the helmet but Baekhyun heard it regardless. He was too shy to even look up, only managed to nod down on the floor. 

After pulling up the kick stand, Chanyeol pressed the handlebar and with a loud vroom, the motorbike scrambled out of its stationary state, making a sharp turn before Chanyeol's broad figure leaned forward as it accelerated. A honking sound followed after it before it made a right turn, Baekhyun watched him drive away and disappeared behind a wall. 

After a moment, Baekhyun woke up from his stupor, taking a deep breath and slowly let it out. He cupped around his face with the palms of his hands, feeling the heat raising back to his face as he repeated the scenes that just happened. 

Chanyeol looked so,  _ so good _ he couldn't seem to flush the images of him on that bike away from the back of his head. Somehow, the longer he thought about it the giddier he felt. 

"Get a grip, Baekhyun," he schooled himself, patting his cheeks as if to wake himself up from the little daydream he kept on entering. 

While still cradling his face, Baekhyun turned on his heels and walked back to the elevator, thinking that he should brought all this giddiness back to their apartment rather than standing there and smiled like a mad man. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHANYEOL IS SO FUCKING HOT I-- JSHSJSHSHS I DONT KNOW HOW TO HANDLE HIM 😭🤲🏼🤲🏼🤲🏼
> 
> Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments are very appreciated!! 😚❤


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for the long wait 🥺 I hope this long chapter will make it up to you ❤❤

As days come and go, Chanyeol realised it has been two weeks since he was married to Baekhyun, his cute little husband. Each day passed by in a blink with flashes of Baekhyun’s gentle smiles and soft giggles colouring his days. Chanyeol was indeed a happy man. 

They quickly fell into a routine that they subconsciously worked out together. 

In the morning, Chanyeol would wake up to find his small husband already bustling around their small kitchen to prepare breakfast. Chanyeol would greet Baekhyun while he makes his coffee on the coffee maker. Then Chanyeol would readied himself to work before having breakfast together with his husband. 

Baekhyun would then follow him to the basement parking to see him off to work, to which Chanyeol had teasingly mentioned that it wasn’t necessary to do. Despite this, Baekhyun still insisted and Chanyeol wasn’t about to argue with him on the topic. If anything, he was pleased by the gesture. Seeing Baekhyun waving him off with that same shy smile on his face lifted up Chanyeol’s spirit to go through another day at work. 

While Chanyeol was at his office, he‘d found himself wondering what his husband was doing at home. The thought would always end up with a silly smile grazing his face. Baekhyun once briefly told him that he’d do some cleaning or in some other days he would do the laundry. Baekhyun mentioned that he was in the outlook for job vacancies as well so Chanyeol figured he was doing well left alone at home. 

Chanyeol would text Baekhyun at noon or earlier, if he had time to check up on him. On those days when he’d text early, Chanyeol would offer to order Baekhyun food for lunch. He knew Baekhyun was capable of managing himself but Chanyeol always found the need to be attentive whenever he was permitted to be. And this behaviour just came naturally ever since he was married to Baekhyun. It felt natural to want to provide the best of care for his husband, Chanyeol thought. 

If he wasn’t sending food to Baekhyun, Chanyeol would simply text him, asking about what he was having for lunch and exchanged text messages back and forth through his lunch time. He found the activity very endearing, especially when knowing how heavily emoji-induced Baekhyun's texts are. 

His recent favourite was how Baekhyun would wish him good luck, before resuming work after lunch, with a little heart emoji inserted at the very end. Now that was what Chanyeol acknowledged as progress. 

Chanyeol clocked out right when the clock struck 5 o’clock, now that he was someone's husband. He usd to hang around his office until the peak hour died down so he could ride back home with lesser traffic. But now, Chanyeol was looking forward to coming back home. The thought of seeing Baekhyun again after long hours of work empowered him to cross the peak traffic because that relief sensation when he pushed past his front door, hearing soft paddings on the floor of his apartment unit, was definitely worth the little effort. 

He would come back to see Baekhyun either bustling around, finishing preparing their dinner or he was in the living room, watching TV. Chanyeol had installed an adapter to the smart TV they owned so Baekhyun can watch Netflix on top of the local TV channels that were already installed. 

If Chanyeol felt exhausted after exiting his office, he definitely had his energy replenished while he sat on the stool by the kitchen counter, overseeing Baekhyun cooking on the other side of it. Sometimes they’ll engage into a small conversation, giving a brief summary of how their day went by. 

Later at night, they’ll have dinner together and spend the night watching TV. There wasn't much to do, except for that one night last weekend which they spent watching through the slideshow of their wedding photos. They received a parcel earlier that day consisting of a photo album and anda mini drive that stores all their wedding photos. Chanyeol suggested that they choose a few photos to print out and frame in their apartment and the night burnt away just like that. 

There was one photo in particular, captured when Chanyeol’s lips were mere milliliters away from Baekhyun’s forehead, stilled into a photo that told thousands of unproken words, Chanyeol loved that one the most. He had suggested for that one to be printed out and framed, to be hung in the living room. 

Baekhyun had gone beet red at that, protesting with all his might so that they ended up with a formal photo of them both on the altar, standing side by side with Baekhyun’s hand hooked around Chanyeol’s arm. It was exceptional for Chanyeol. Although he did think that they could always print out another photo to replace that one later on. 

A few days ago, Chanyeol received a text message from the reception of their apartment, notifying him that there was a package addressed to their unit. Chanyeol didn’t remember ordering anything but when he came back home and picked up the packaging from the reception, he was amused to see it was addressed to Baekhyun. 

Slowly, Chanyeol could see how tiny bits of Baekhyun start to grow in his daily life. The feeling was fuzzy, stirring up from his heart and simmering down into the pit of his gut. 

He told Baekhyun about the packaging when he reached home, watching Baekhyun gleefully receive it, effectively stopping his cooking activity. While Canyeol went to put away his bag and suit jacket, he heard the noises that came from Baekhyun unboxing his parcel. 

Chanyeol barely realised how his lips were starting to form a smile as shuffled over to the dining table while folding the sleeves of his dress shirt, watching the excitement bursting over Baekhyun's features. Chanyeol then found out that Baekhyun had bought a pair of matching baby blue slippers for Chanyeol and himself, along with a 8-in-1 kitchen utensil set in black. Baekhyun mentioned that he wanted the utensils to match he black marble of the countertops and kitchen cabinet. 

And the slippers… Chanyeol had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from letting the wide grin that was threatening to form on his face, and make a fool of himself. Chanyeol had long admitted that his husband was naturally adorable in his own elements; everything that Baekhyun did looked cute in his eyes. But that day Chanyeol discovered a whole new level of his cuteness and that came with how he bought Chanyeol a pair of home slippers, telling Chanyeol that he wanted Chanyeol to have matching slippers with him. 

Baekhyun was probably oblivious of the effect he had on Chanyeol, prolly underestimated it because Chanyeol had a hard time sleeping that night, head filled with the thought of how Baekhyun’s slippers were much smaller than his own. It was the most idiotic thing he had done to sacrifice his sleep. 

* * *

It was Friday which meant there was the coming weekend that Chanyeol could look forward to, yet again to spend with his husband. And while the anticipation was pulsing through the nerves in his body, he still needed to get things done so that his weekend wouldn't be disturbed by any work-related matter. 

He had a few more hours before he could clock out and go home. Chanyeol busied himself with skimming through reports and making phone calls. Between that, he received a phone call that piqued his interest the most. It was from Baekhyun, something that rarely happens and the first thing that popped into his mind was that it should be something important. 

Chanyeol picked up the call on the third ring, Baekhyun's mellow voice greeted him in a haste. 

"Chanyeol, hey. Busy?" Baekhyun's words came in a rush, almost sounding panic, which had worry bubbled in the pit of Chanyeol's gut. 

"Hey. Not busy at all. Is everything okay?" He uttered his words slowly, trying not to put any pressure into the conversation. 

Baekhyun's laughter rang from the other side of the line and it sounded forced, making Chanyeol crease his brows together. 

"Everything is fine… it's just that… my parents called. They said they're on their way to come over…" 

As Baekhyun's voice trailed off, Chanyeol could feel himself breathing normally again. His husband wasn't in trouble or anything, he was relieved. 

"They wanted to stay over for the weekend," Baekhyun added, voice cautious. 

Chanyeol let out a soft chuckle at his husband's antics. "Okay. Did you call me to tell this? I don't mind at all, Baekhyun. They can come over whenever they want." 

He heard Baekhyun softly humming over the phone, the sound made his lips stay tugged into a smile. 

"They'd probably need to use the guest room, Chanyeol," Baekhyun stated, his voice uncertain. 

And then it finally clicked within Chanyeol, between Baekhyun's hesitancy and the words he uttered, why his husband was panicking at this moment. There was only one guest room in their apartment, the one Baekhyun was currently occupying. The other guest room, Chanyeol made it into a mini library where he used to stay inside, when he brought some work to do at home. 

"Chanyeol, they're gonna arrive in about half an hour so I really need to move my stuff now…" Baekhyun pressed on, patience seemed to run out of his system. 

Despite this, Chanyeol found the whole situation amusing. He was biting his tongue hard to prevent himself from laughing out loud. 

"Chanyeol? Are you still there? Hello?" 

Chanyeol released a breath, clearing his throat as he did. 

"Yeah, still here. Sure, Baek, you can move your stuff into my room." 

He heard his husband let out a sigh of relief and Chanyeol felt his cheeks hurting from smiling throughout the phone conversation. 

"Thank you! And I'm sorry it was such a short notice. Mom and dad really love making surprises like this." 

Chanyeol easily laughed the matter away, finding it endearing that Baekhyun was feeling guilty on behalf of his parents. 

"No big deal. Will you be okay moving your stuff alone? Need me to come home early?" 

Baekhyun quickly answered. "Oh, no no, there's no need for that. It's not that much anyway," he paused for a moment before continuing, "I probably should hang up now. I've taken a lot of your time." 

"You're not bothering me at all," Chanyeol said rather pleasantly, as if he'd rather pick a call from his husband as opposed to those he got for work. 

Silence slipped in and for a while, Chanyeol thought the call had ended, until he heard Baekhyun's soft breathing from the other side. 

"I should get started vacating the guest room now," Baekhyun pressed on and Chanyeol now understood that Baekhyun wasn't the one wrapping up their short phone call. 

With that same endearing smile on his face, Chanyeol said, "And I should go back to work. See you later at home." 

"Eung." 

Chanyeol's mind seemed to freeze at the single syllable that came from his speaker. It sounded adorable that Chanyeol craved to hear it once more. 

"Bye, Baekhyun." 

"Bye." 

"I'll be back in a few hours. Don't miss me okay?" Chanyeol said, his voice in a whisper, earning himself a hearty laughter from Baekhyun. 

"I won't," Baekhyun replied shortly. 

Chanyeol was raking his head to find another sappy thing to say but Baekhyun butted in, saying, "Fighting, Chanyori! Come home safe. I'll hang up now. Bye!" 

With that, the call ended and Chanyeol was left blinking his eyes, his ears straining as if trying to catch back the tiny bits of words Baekhyun had spilled out in his haste to end the call. He might be wrong, but Chanyeol thought he heard his husband calling him in a different kind of way, though he wasn't so sure about that. For all he knew, he might have imagined it — which is nothing new, frankly speaking, considering how much time he spent daydreaming about his small husband. 

Dismissing the thought, Chanyeol went back to the reports that still needed reviewing, subconsciously counting the seconds that passed by, hoping the day could drag along faster. 

* * *

Baekhyun could feel his heart rattling right after he ended the call. He brought his hand that was holding his phone to his chest, feeling the vibration from his pounding heart traveled along the device and touched down on the skin of his hand. 

What was he thinking? 

Heat was pooling on his face and despite feeling so silly for ending the call that way, he couldn't help the giddy smile on his face. He was embarrassed, yet he felt oddly satisfied with himself for managing to return his husband's readings just now. 

After a while, he was shaken awake by the reality that he needed to pack up his belongings and bring them into Chanyeol's room. He quickly moved around in his own room, picking things up and speedily had them moved to the master bedroom. 

He aired the guest room, changed the beddings and made a quick cleaning before he deemed everything was good for his parents to stay in. 

Not long after, when he was thoroughly relaxed and had stopped panicking, the doorbell to the apartment rang. As Baekhyun opened the door the happy faces of his parents greeted him. He welcomed them into his house, listening to his mother's blubber about how his father brought them to a wrong room number earlier. Thankfully no one was home after they rang the bell, and Mrs Byun had the liberty to recheck on the address and found that they were two floors below the actual address. 

Baekhyun listened with a smile stretched over his face. He missed listening to his old dols' blubber so much, he realised then. He helped with their baggage, placing against the wall of the archway to the guest room. He then found his parents looking around, whispering to themselves and Baekhyun felt happy bubbles popping in his chest at the sight. 

"Mom, dad, come have a seat. I'll prepare some tea," he offered as he made his way to the small kitchen. His mother easily joined him, telling him she packed some more kimchi and samgyetang. 

"We can have them for dinner later. Did you cook for Chanyeol?" She prodded as she started to unpack the cooling stew. 

Baekhyun chuckled at her question. Despite asking this almost every time Baekhyun called her, his mother still asked him. And Baekhyun always answered the same thing. 

"I do, mom. Sometimes he helped too and he'd treat us to some takeouts whenever he feels like it." 

As he prepared tea for his parents, Baekhyun guided his mother around the kitchen, finding pots and ladle for her. 

"The house looks neat. How many bedrooms you said it has again?" His mother piped up as she looked over the stew she was heating. 

"3 rooms, two bathrooms. One of the guest rooms Chanyeol made like a home-library," he explained to his mother while he took out some mugs from the cabinet. 

"Did he work at home?" She asked further and Baekhyun could tell she was curious to know from the way she was nosing into the matter. It was amusing. 

"No, I don't think so. He did pick up calls every now and then, but I never saw him lock himself up to work while he's home." 

Mrs Byun hummed under her breath at her son's explanation. "That's good. Everything is fine then, I suppose?" 

Baekhyun smiled at the subtle way his mother was trying to ask if he was okay living with husband. He appreciated her concern. 

"Yes, mom. Everything's fine now," he replied, flashing her his childish grin. Mrs Byun beamed back, her hand reaching out to rub over Baekhyun's elbow. 

"I'm glad to hear that. You know mommy only wants you to be happy. And I could see Chanyeol did a very good job, taking care of you. Your cheeks are rounder now, Baekhyunie." 

At his mother's teasing, Baekhyun barked out a laughter, shaking his head in denial. 

"My cheeks had always been like that mom!" 

The mother and son duo then padded towards the living room, noting that Mr Byun was outside of the balcony, overlooking the city.

Mrs Byun called him inside. They enjoyed the tea over a conversation where Mr Byun was suggesting which plant Baekhyun could grow in the balcony of his apartment. Although it was not on Baekhyun weather he could grow anything in their balcony, Baekhyun still enjoyed the conversation, finding himself missing all the little things about his parents now that he finally saw him after almost three weeks. 

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard the beeping sound of the door, indicating that someone had unlocked it from outside. 

"Oh, Chanyeol's home," Mrs Byun chipped up, looking expectantly at her son. Realising that he should greet his husband at the door, Baekhyun stood up and padded towards the front door where it was already ajar and Chanyeol was pushing himself through. When he was finally inside, Baekhyun knew why he was struggling to get in. His hands were full, one with his black helmet and another one with a plastic bag. 

Baekhyun rushed over, holding his hand out to take the plastic bag away. Chanyeol beamed at him, passing the plastic bag as he placed the helmet on the nearest surface of the dining table. 

"I dropped by the bakery to buy some pastries," he said in a slight whisper, "When did they arrive?" 

Baekhyun whipped his head up after peering into the bag full of pastries. "Not so long ago, though. Did you get off work early?" 

Chanyeol reached home even before the clock striked 5, indicating that he had left work early, more so when he had the time to drop by somewhere first. 

His husband didn't seem to hear the question he uttered as he was unwrapping his laptop bag off his shoulder and placed it on one of the dining chairs. He then walked past Baekhyun, squeezing the joint of his shoulder as he did, going to greet his in-laws. 

Baekhyun watched for a moment as his parents exchanged a few words with Chanyeol, feeling warmth enveloping him. He then moved to the kitchen to find a plate for the pastries. He was taking out another mug from one of the overhead cabinets when he felt a presence at his side. The cabinet door closed from a force by another, which happened to be his husband, who was now shook off from his blazer and only in his midnight blue dress shirt, sleeves messily folded to half the length of his lower arm. 

"Tea?" Baekhyun offered, holding the mug up and shaking it lightly. 

Chanyeol answered with a low hum, leading Baekhyun to pour the mug with warm tea that he made just now. 

"I did leave work early," Chanyeol said, his hand reaching out to take over the mug from Baekhyun's hand, his fingers brushing lightly against Baekhyun's skin. He beckoned Baekhyun to take the plate of pastries and gestured to him to walk with his free hand that he brought to the small of Baekhyun's back. 

"Because I couldn't wait to see you." 

The low voice that swept over his left ear made shiver run down Baekhyun's spine. His eyes were blinking rapidly, his heart made a somersault, and Baekhyun could tell the hurricane that hit him on the inside was evident through his facial expression. 

Baekhyun bit the inside of his cheeks, trying to maintain a normal look on his face while both him and his husband joined the old couple at the living room. The young couple took over the loveseat, offering the pastries that Baekhyun brought with them. The four were engaged where Mr Byun proposed his idea of growing herbs and small plants on the balcony to Chanyeol. 

Both men seemed to be invested in the idea the more they talk about it. Not long after, Mrs Byun announced that she should start preparing for dinner then. Baekhyun followed after her to the kitchen, preparing more side dishes on top of the samgyetang and kimchi that were ready to be served. 

Baekhyun was left to plate and set the food while his mother excused herself to go and take a quick shower. He plated the food, brought them to the dining table and started to set the tableware. While he was taking out some plates, Chanyeol approached him, fresh out of shower as he took the plates away from him. 

"Go take a shower. I'll plate the table," he said softly, a tender smile flashed out to Baekhyun.

The smaller of the two put up a little fight but in the end, he relented when Chanyeol kept blocking his way in the kitchen. He was ushered to the master bedroom to take a shower, and so he did. 

Baekhyun found his stack of clothes was still perched up on the hide bench at the foot of the bed, remembering that he placed it there because he wasn't sure where to dump them. He didn't want to open Chanyeol's closet without his permission. 

He proceeded to take a quick shower, bringing all his clothes along to change inside. He came out with his hair still damp which made him stay a little longer in the room to let it dry. 

He sat on the hide bench, staring at the space ahead until he caught onto the glass box that sat on top of the dresser, usually empty, but now occupied with Chanyeol's helmet. Now he knew that the box actually served a purpose since he always thought it was only there for the aesthetics. 

The sound of the door cracking open women Baekhyun up from his stupor. Chanyeol walked in and his eyes wandered around until they fell on Baekhyun. A smile cracked on his lips when he noticed that Baekhyun was already looking his way.

"The table is set," he announced as he took the vacant seat beside Baekhyun on the bench. 

"Oh, is mom and dad ready for dinner?" Baekhyun asked, his hands quickly working back on the towel that he placed over his head to dry his hair more quickly. 

Chanyeol shook his head lightly, "They're still in their room. We'll wait for them in a bit." He reached his hand to join Baekhyun's, whose whole body froze at the contact. When Chanyeol started to gently towel-dry his hair, Baekhyun retreated his hands and clasped them on his lap. 

His eyes darted back to the front, not trusting himself to look at his husband while they were sitting close beside each other like this. His gaze lingered on the helmet, sitting nicely in the glass box. 

"That's one special place for a helmet," he said, breaking the silence between them. 

Chanyeol's soft chuckled followed after as his hand still worked to dry Baekhyun's hair. 

"I don't want it to collect dust," Chanyeol simply said, to which Baekhyun snorted at. 

"Only special treatment for your baby, I guess. Do you call the helmet your  _ baby _ too?" 

He was full on teasing mode when he asked this, finding it funny how Chanyeol had put endearment on his motorbike. 

Chanyeol let out another soft chuckle. "My helmet is expensive, yes, but I'd only put cute names on my super prized possessions," he said as his hand moved to gently massage the back of Baekhyun's head, earning himself a soft approving hum from the smaller. 

"So your motorbike isn't the only super prize possession you have?" Baekhyun prompted, trying to keep the conversation going. 

"I have one more, yes."

"What'd you call it?" 

Chanyeol took a momentary pause and Baekhyun wondered if it was supposed to be a secret that Baekhyun should not nose on. 

"I'd love to call that one as my sweetheart," came Chanyeol's slightly late reply. 

Baekhyun unconsciously pursued his lips at the answer. "What is it? Is it your car? You call it sweetheart?" He prodded, suddenly curious of the things that Chanyeol deemed very valuable to himself. 

"Hmm, I'm not a car person, so it's not my car," Chanyeol denied. "It's actually a person," he hinted.

Baekhyun instantly came up with another guess. "Your mom?" 

Chanyeol chuckled at his blind guess, pulling the towel away from Baekhyun's head as he was done drying Baekhyun's hair. 

"My mom is my dad's sweetheart," he insinuated, his glinting with mischief as he glimpsed over at his husband. 

Baekhyun opened his mouth to say something but when his brain finally caught up with what Chanyeol was implying, his lips stayed parted as he was rendered speechless. He could see, from the corner of his eyes, Chanyeol putting away the damp towel to dry.

When he came back, he threw Baekhyun a question. "Earlier, when we talked on the phone, before you ended the call, I thought I heard you say my name differently. What was that again?" 

Baekhyun turned his head, finding his husband back at his side, leaning close towards him. 

"I… don't know what you're talking about." He stammered. 

Chanyeol hummed thoughtfully, saying dismissively, "Maybe I was just imagining it." 

"Yeah, you could be," Baekhyun affirmed, trying to lean back to put distance between them. He didn't know what got into Chanyeol that he kept leaning in, the more Baekhyun leaned back. 

He let out a silent gasp when one of Chanyeol's arms extended out, stretching across his body to land on the space on the other side. One of Baekhyun's hands instinctively splayed over Chanyeol's chest to stop him from leaning in further or Baekhyun would topple over backwards and may break his neck along the way. 

"W-what?" He squeaked out, noticing how he was hiding his breath the entire time. 

"Just making sure my sweetheart isn't hiding something from me, that's all." 

At that moment, Baekhyun had wanted nothing else but to faint out from toppling off backwards because the intense gaze his husband was giving him, coupled with the slight tug at the corners of his lips that formed a small smirk, Baekhyun knew he was a goner. 

The heavy tension that built around them shattered when they heard the muffled sound of people talking from outside and the screeching sound of the dining chair being pulled out. It was time for dinner. 

Like a professional ninja, Baekhyun leapt out of the compromising position, successfully distancing himself from his husband and quickly whisk himself out of the room he had been alone with his husband the past ten minutes. 

* * *

Dinner went by with both Baekhyun and Chanyeol pretending like nothing had happened before they sat down at the dining table. After dinner, Baekhyun cut some fruits they could enjoy while watching TV. His parents retired to bed soon, probably tired from the journey to their son's new place. 

Baekhyun stayed in the kitchen to wash the remaining dishes and did a quick cleaning. Chanyeol had offered to help and this time around Baekhyun was the one ushering him away. The man agreed, nonetheless and Baekhyun was thankful for that because he was still not over the little stunt his husband played out earlier. 

Chanyeol was such a tease. While Baekhyun hardly minded it now, he sometimes still felt awkward and shy around him. He knew he needed to wash these feelings off because Chanyeol was after all his husband, but he had made a lot of progress than he had actually credited himself. 

He was more comfortable to be around Chanyeol now, he could see that, but he was struggling with being comfortably  _ intimate _ with his husband. They exchanged soft touches here and there throughout the day, Baekhyun was getting used to those now. But being extremely close, invading each other's personal space; this one was exceptionally hard to get used to. 

After gulping down a glass of water and rinsed the glass off, Baekhyun padded towards the master bedroom. He found the room empty and figured Chanyeol was occupying the bathroom. What he least expected was to see his husband emerging from the closet because Baekhyun knew for sure he couldn't fit in. 

"Why are you in the closet?"

"Oh, I was putting away your clothes. Wanna see where I put them?" He offered out, holding the door more ajar for Baekhyun to step in. And Baekhyun was surprised to know that there was actually more space inside than what he had always thought. 

"You have a walk-in closet?" He asked, dumbfounded.

Chanyeol scrunched his nose, shaking his head lightly. "Not as extravagant as you made it sound but yeah, I guess you can put it that way." 

He beckoned Baekhyun to come inside. The walk-in closet was big enough to fit both of them. Chanyeol pointed out where he had put away Baekhyun's clothes. 

"You didn't have to make space for my clothes. It's just for a couple of days," Baekhyun said sheepishly, feeling guilty all of a sudden. 

"The space was already there, Baekhyun," Chanyeol simply said and Baekhyun suddenly felt guilt weighing his heart for a different reason. 

But Chanyeol didn't say anything to trip him to feel this way. Baekhyun just thought that he could have taken his husband for granted when Chanyeol had done all his best to be the husband Baekhyun could ever ask for. 

When they filed out of the closet, Baekhyun excused himself to prepare himself to go to bed. He emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, went to plug his phone to a charger. He went to switch off the lights after getting approval from his husband before he padded towards the bed and joined his husband. 

"Do you need a pillow in between?" Chanyeol suddenly piped up and for a moment Baekhyun was confused until he remembered their first night sharing the bed together and Baekhyun had requested for a pillow placed between them. That was when he barely knew who Chanyeol was. Now, he knew for a fact that he acknowledged Chanyeol as his husband wholeheartedly. 

So he shook his head and said, "No, I'm fine," as he made himself comfortable in the sleeping space. He could hear Chanyeol Chanyeol softly from his side and Baekhyun closed his eyes, evening his breathing and waited for sleep to consume him. 

He didn't know when he fell asleep but Baekhyun could tell one thing, he didn't have trouble sleeping like he did the first night they shared a bed together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe I was having trouble trying to write in Chanyeol's pov, bcs how do you know what's lying in a sexy man's mind?? Sksksks 
> 
> Anyway, kudos and comments means a lot to me 🥺❤ thank you for reading guys!!


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